Little Red String
by moonyazu9
Summary: Alt Reality. Zuko joins Jet and the Freedom Fighters. SLASH. JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang, Smellershot, and Sukka.
1. Chapter I

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter I**

Ba Sing Se. The biggest city in the Earth Kingdom, and its capital. A perfect place for refugees from the war against the Fire Nation. Which Zuko and Iroh now were, if the wanted posters that Azula distributed were any indication. Funny - one could become a war refugee when one was supposed to be the enemy. Ha.

Overall, Zuko was not particularly excited to be going to Ba Sing Se in the first place, but he and his uncle had pretty much run out of options. They couldn't go back to the Fire Nation, empty-handed and loser-esque as they were. After all, his "loving" father Ozai had blamed Uncle for Zuko's mistakes at the North Pole and wanted them both brought home for capture, and probably execution after that. So they - or rather, Uncle - had decided that it would be best to lie low in Ba Sing Se and masquerade as refugees for a while (hopefully until the Avatar made his presence known, or something along those lines). Besides, ever since they had cut their topknots off and ditched the typical Fire Nation armor and corresponding outfits, they didn't really look like their people any more. Zuko's paleness was still kind of an issue, but they combated it by saying that he was sick often as a child and never really got very good coloring as a result. Which was advantageous for blending in with their surroundings and hiding from his sister and her friends, who were, no doubt, still hunting for them at this moment.

But back to the matter at hand: Zuko was not excited to be going to Ba Sing Se. He didn't particularly want to hide away from the world, especially in a place where he couldn't use Firebending on a frequent basis (his hot temper - no pun intended, because Zuko was not particularly fond of puns in the first place - usually manifested itself in flames erupting from his hands or his mouth in frustration). And Uncle was implying that they would have to get jobs in the city. Neither of them knew how to do anything work-related! The most Uncle could do was work at a tea shop! Oh, Agni, that was probably what they were going to end up doing anyway. Yes, Zuko was definitely not excited to be going to the city.

Then again, it would be an improvement over being on this stinking boat. He missed his warship, with his nice, cozy bed and fireplace and personal chef. Said chef would have provided him with much better food than the stuff he had just sipped and then promptly spat out in disgust. "I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt," Zuko said. "I'm tired of living like this." He leaned over the rail despondently, seriously contemplating jumping over the edge and drowning himself. Then Azula would definitely not be able to find him.

"Aren't we all?" replied a voice. Zuko looked over his shoulder at a boy, roughly his age, chewing on a piece of what appeared to be prairie grass and sporting a lopsided grin. He was followed by two other figures in various states of haphazardly composed armored dress. "My name's Jet," the boy introduced himself, "and these are my Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot." When called, Smellerbee said hello, and Longshot nodded. Zuko said hello back, not looking at them.

Jet came closer to Zuko and Iroh. "What are your names?"

"I'm Mushi," Uncle said, returning to their Earth Kingdom aliases, "and this is my nephew, Lee."

"It's a pleasure," Jet said. "So, here's the deal: I hear the captain of this ship's eating like a king, while us refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

Uncle asked, "What sort of 'king' is he eating like?"

Jet replied, "The fat, happy kind." Iroh drooled and gaped a little at that admission. The boy then turned to Zuko. "So, you want to help us 'liberate' some food?"

Zuko looked down at his bowl of whatever-it-was (he didn't really care what it actually was, it looked disgusting and borderline inedible, mostly because of the unpleasant shade of green that it was and the mysterious floating things in the bowl which looked unlike vegetable, fruit, or meat), and then launched it over the rail into the lake. He turned to the teens and said, "I'm in."

Jet grinned even wider at that response. "Good. We'll meet you up here at about an hour after sunset. Be ready." Zuko nodded in response, and the three Freedom Fighters wandered away.

"Getting caught up in this a little bit quick, aren't you, nephew?" Iroh asked once they were gone.

"Do you _want _to starve, Uncle?" Zuko countered.

"No, I'm just saying that you only just met them and you're already recruited for a mission. Bit quick if you ask me."

"Well, I'm not asking you. I'm doing this because I'm tired of eating like a slave and I bet you are too, so you can stop badgering me about this!"

Iroh held up his hands in surrender. "All right, all right! I'm just saying that you should be careful. Those boys definitely aren't Fire Nation."

"Your point being…?" Zuko raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"Be careful that something doesn't slip out while you're 'liberating' your food, if you know what I mean." The former general made some hand movements that looked like fire blasts.

"Nothing is going to slip out. I'll control myself, I promise," Zuko replied. "I'll be sure to get you some roast duck if I can find it."

Iroh grinned at his nephew. "Now that's more like it! And some tea, if you can! You know how I love tea."

"Of course, Uncle," Zuko said. He then took off to prowl around the ship, hoping to find a way to the kitchens and to see how many guards were surrounding the kitchens.

* * *

Please review, give constructive criticism, etc. as necessary.


	2. Chapter II

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter II**

It was just a few minutes before Lee was supposed to meet Jet and the Freedom Fighters on the boat's observation deck for their "liberation" mission. Hopefully, it would be a success.

Jet had to admit, he was rather intrigued by the pale boy he had met earlier in the day. He had a lean bitterness that Jet recognized from years of struggling to survive on one's own. But there was also loneliness in those eyes, a want or possibly a need to be recognized, needed, and maybe even loved. Maybe Jet could fill that hole in this boy's life.

Jet was still Jet, though. Being frozen to a tree by Katara hadn't changed him _that _much. He still hated the Fire Nation with a (pardon the pun, because Jet hates puns almost as much as the Fire Nation) hot and fiery passion, but he was still waiting for the opportune moment to strike against that evil empire. He wasn't going to start a riot or anything, nothing that stupid. If he was going to fight, he needed to be subtle, but powerful, strong. He needed to make it clear what he wanted to do, but not loudly obvious.

He was the same way when it came to love. When he saw someone he liked - man or woman, it didn't really matter; Jet discovered after years of being close to the Freedom Fighters, particularly Smellerbee and Longshot, he found both sexes to be beautiful - he made it clear to that person that he wanted them, but it was in very subtle gestures: a flash of the trademark Jet smile here, a bouquet of flowers there, and sexual contact when it became necessary and the timing was right. And once he had a person hooked, he rarely let go of him or her unless something terrible happened with the relationship (like cheating on him or lying to his face, that sort of thing).

Of course, that stubbornness to change and not be different had gotten Jet into some trouble with his friends. When the Freedom Fighters found out what he had almost done with that blasting jelly they found, a good chunk of them were outraged. They couldn't believe that he would sacrifice innocent Earth Kingdom people to get rid of even one group of Fire Nation troops. Sure, they hated the Fire Nation too, but they weren't like Jet. They would do anything to eradicate that red menace, except for what Jet had done. So nearly all of them left the Freedom Fighters, leaving Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot to carry on alone.

At first, Jet had been hurt. He wondered how they could have turned their backs on him so easily, how they saw his actions as wrong. But then he realized that he treated those Earth Kingdom villagers the same as he treated the Fire Nation soldiers he wanted to destroy: as less than human. And the Earth Kingdom was better than that!

So he recognized that he had been wrong to do what he did. He resolved to protect the Earth Kingdom people from now on, and would never hurt them again. He decided to focus his anger on his previous target, that damned nation of evil that sought only to destroy the world and take it over at any costs. So he would fight them at almost any cost, just short of killing innocents. He and his last faithful members had decided to move on in an attempt to help those who had similar ideals. He hoped he would find them in Ba Sing Se, and hoped that he would be able to become a stronger, better person there as well.

That was another thing Jet had seen in Lee: strength. He recognized that the boy was strong because he had had to struggle as an outsider, had to struggle to survive when hope seemed lost and everything around him threatened to crumble at a moment's notice. And Jet liked that in Lee. It meant that they had something in common.

But Jet could see that Lee was completely and utterly alone, save for his uncle. How he remained sane, Jet wouldn't understand and wouldn't question. All he knew now was that he had to get Lee on his side, get him to join him. It was bad to be alone, and Jet didn't want to see Lee alone forever. Nobody deserved that.

Jet paused in his musings when he heard the almost imperceptible sound of feet approaching his group - after years of hunting and being hunted, his hearing had improved quite a bit. He tensed and loosely gripped his swords, but released them when he saw that it was Lee. The other boy had a pair of swords tied to his waist, and looked prepared for their little adventure.

Jet tossed him a few burlap sacks. He then gestured to the stairs, which led to the kitchens. Lee nodded, and led the Freedom Fighters up the staircase quickly and quietly. Longshot remained outside to stand guard, in case someone happened to be passing by at this time of night.

They crept up a few flights of stairs, creeping along the walls like the wannabe ninjas that they were, stepping carefully. The only thing that could be heard was the soft sounds of their breathing, barely perceptible as it was.

At last, they reached their destination. They surrounded the door, Smellerbee on the left side of it, and Jet and Lee on the right. Smellerbee looked through the door, then looked at Jet and gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded, and pointed towards the door. He forced the lock open and the two boys entered the kitchen.

As expected, it was full of food. Nothing spectacular – this was a public boat, after all, and the chef was probably not the best – but it was what they had come for. They spread out, snagging whatever they could and stuffing it into their sacks.

Lee came across a counter with bowls of some kind of rice or soup dish (Jet couldn't really tell which it was from the angle he was watching). Nimbly, he took out his swords and stacked the bowls in pairs, then stacked the pairs and tied them together with a ribbon, smiling slightly at his handiwork. Jet mirrored his expression, and they continued to pick through the kitchen, grabbing as much food as they could. Lee grabbed a jar with a jasmine tea label on it and smiled; the tea was probably meant for his uncle, Jet mused.

Smellerbee whispered, "Hurry up! Guards coming!" Jet and Lee ran out of the kitchen and, with Smellerbee, rushed to the edge of the balcony. An expertly fired, line-strung arrow from Longshot hissed its way up to them, catching in the railing. The sacks went flying down the line, followed by the three teens, just as a guard came up the top step to make his rounds on the top floor.

Once they were on their floor again, the Freedom Fighters and Lee grinned at each other. "We make a good team," Jet said, clapping Lee on the shoulder. "Now let's go feed some refugees."

Each of them grabbed two bags and began passing out food to their fellow refugees, who were all too happy to take it. The teenagers were rewarded with smiles and various other forms of gratitude.

When they got to Lee's uncle, Jet nodded to the new Freedom Fighter and let him go. The last of Lee's food was reserved for his uncle, and he was still sort of new to the group, so Jet released him and went with Smellerbee and Longshot to finish up.

When they finished, Jet pulled the other two Freedom Fighters aside. "So, what do you think?"

"What do we think of what?" Smellerbee asked nonchalantly.

"Lee, of course!" Jet replied. "What else is new?"

Longshot gave Jet one of his meaningful glances, which Jet interpreted as _We don't know enough about him to form a real opinion just yet. He seems all right._ Jet nodded in response. Over the years, the three of them had established a sort of wordless language of facial expressions, bodily positions, and the occasional birdcall. Longshot wasn't much of a talker, and it made stealthy missions easier to accomplish when they weren't speaking.

Smellerbee added, "I'm not so sure about him. Something seems…off."

"Off how?" Jet asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I don't know. It's like they're hiding something. Something big," the girl shrugged.

"Hey, everyone's allowed a secret or two," Jet replied. "Besides, what difference does it make? It could be something bad they're trying to forget about."

"Don't you wanna know where he got that scar?" Smellerbee asked.

"I know he didn't get it from a cooking accident," Jet said. "But let's not worry about it. Just wait and see what happens."

"Whatever, Jet," the girl replied as they made their way over to eat with Lee and Mushi. Jet took the now-empty bags and stashed them under the staircase where they had been before, which was just enough distance that he wasn't near them, but it was close enough that he could still hear the strains of their conversation.

The old man nodded at them when Longshot and Smellerbee sat down. They grabbed some of the food they had stolen and all began eating in a somewhat awkward silence.

At length, Mushi started, "So, Smellerbee. That's an interesting name for a young man."

Jet smirked, knowing that the old man was going to be in for an argument or a severe yelling punishment. Smellerbee tensely replied, "Maybe that's because I'm not a man. I'M A GIRL!"

Obviously, it was the second option. Jet heard Mushi try to yell an apology, but the angry girl was already gone. The Freedom Fighter leader spotted Longshot walking away from the group to comfort Smellerbee with his silent words, the girl replying that he was right, and then the two of them walking away to go do something else that Jet couldn't hear or see.

After his subordinates were gone, Jet took the middle seat in front of Mushi and Lee. The other boy passed him a bowl of food and a steaming cup of tea (the old man had borrowed some spark rocks from another group of refugees, resulting in hot tea for their little group), which Jet eagerly began eating. "From what I've heard," he said between bites, "people eat like this every day in Ba Sing Se." He took a sip of tea – which was actually pretty good tea, considering that they were on a boat for refugees. "I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."

Mushi nodded. "It is a magnificent sight."

Jet raised an eyebrow. "So you've been there before?"

The old man sighed. "Once, when I was a different man."

Jet nodded, grasping that the man had changed since his last visit to the city. He wouldn't press for the details of how or why Mushi had changed – the past can be painful, after all. "I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of," he replied quietly. "But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning. A second chance."

Mushi nodded in understanding. "That's very noble of you." He took a sip of his tea. "I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances." He shared a look with his nephew. That glance meant something to the boy, but Jet couldn't exactly figure out why. Perhaps Lee knew why Mushi had decided to change? Perhaps Lee needed to change as well, and Mushi was telling him that this was their chance to start over? Jet wasn't sure what was exchanged in that gaze, but it must have been important to the two men sitting before him.

At length, Lee got up from their spot on the deck, saying he wanted to stretch his legs before going to bed. Mushi nodded, and poured himself another cup of tea. The pale boy rolled his shoulders back a few times and sauntered off. Curious, Jet followed him.

Lee stopped at a part of the ship's railing and leaned over the edge, looking out over the lake. Jet pulled up beside him. "Why did you follow me?" Lee asked, not looking at Jet.

"I wanted to talk to you," Jet replied. "Get some one-on-one time, you know?"

Lee sighed. "What did you want to talk about? I'm a refugee, just like you."

"Yes, I know that, Lee," Jet said, smirking, "but I want to know more."

"There's not much to tell." Lee replied.

"I don't care. Tell me." Jet casually brushed a hand over Lee's shoulder, flicking at a piece of dust.

Lee turned to look at him, staring. "It's not pretty," he said. "My life's been kind of rough. Especially lately."

"I get it, Lee," Jet replied. "Your life's gone down the tubes, I know. That's why you're going to Ba Sing Se, to start over and get back on top." He fingered Lee's shoulder. "So tell me what brought you here. I _really_ want to know."

Lee sighed and brushed Jet's fingers off of his shoulder. "You really wanna know?" Jet nodded somewhat vigorously. "Okay, but feel free to run when you get weirded out. It's kind of gruesome."

"Trust me, I know gruesome," Jet replied. "Let's get started. What are your parents like?"

Lee glared. "Great, the one question I hate the most," he grumbled, and then sighed. "My mother was an angel. She always loved me, even at the end. She would and did do everything for me, right until the end." He swallowed. "And I never got to thank her for it."

"What happened to her?" Jet asked.

"She disappeared one day. I think I remember her coming into my room and telling me goodbye, and that what she had done was for my sake, but that might have been a dream. All I know is that on that day, things changed." Lee looked down.

"So you don't even know if she's alive?" Jet inquired.

"Nobody would tell me. It was like she didn't exist." Lee put his head down on his arms.

"That sucks, Lee."

Lee snorted. "That's an understatement. Brilliant, genius."

"I mean it. I would hate that – not knowing if she was alive or dead. It would drive me crazy just thinking about it." Jet smiled grimly. "I suppose, in that sense, it's best that I actually saw my parents die."

Lee's eye widened. "Really? How did it happen?" He looked away, flushed. "I mean, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

Jet shook his head. "It's all right. It's better that you know, anyway. Sharing secrets and that sort of shit." He sighed. "My parents were killed in a Fire Nation raid when I was eight. They died when our hut was set on fire. Burned the whole village down too. I was the only survivor." He looked out at the water, and then back at Lee. "But enough about me. What about your dad? You haven't mentioned him yet."

Lee looked down at his hands. "There's a reason I didn't. My dad – well, let's just say we don't have the best relationship."

"How bad is it?" Jet inquired.

Lee paused, as if trying to come up with a way to say it nicely. But obviously nothing was quite as good as, "He doesn't love me."

Jet scoffed, "Oh come on. He's your dad, he has to love you!"

"If he did, would he have let me get this?" The boy pointed to the angry red scar that dominated the left side of his face. "He didn't do anything to stop it from happening. He just stood there and watched while th– the Fire Nation soldiers hit me. He didn't even care that I could have died from these burns." He exhaled heavily. "And then he kicked me out, practically disowned me. Then, he decides he wants me dead, so he sends out my sister – who he's always favored because she's a genius and basically a younger, female version of him – and her friends to kill me or capture me so he can kill me himself. I had no choice but to run. Now I'm practically homeless, and Uncle's the only one who cares enough to make sure I stay alive, but it wouldn't make much difference if I was alive or dead at this point." Lee exhaled, panting as if he had just run a mile. "There. Happy now?" he finished.

Jet gaped at Lee. "I don't – I don't know what to say. I thought I had it rough, but you, Lee – wow. You have been through some serious shit, man."

"Yeah, no kidding," Lee grumbled.

Jet continued, "I mean, really. At least my parents both loved me, when they were alive. With you, you only had half the package. I wouldn't give anything to have been in your shoes growing up. I'm so sorry for you, Lee."

"You don't have to rub it in," Lee responded. "I know, my life sucks. You can stop elaborating on it. You can even stop talking to me. It won't make a difference, I'll still be in this shit for a while, and nothing you say or do -"

Lee was cut off when Jet's arms wrapped around him in a warm embrace. The pale boy stiffened at the touch, almost freezing in place, making it quite clear to Jet that he hadn't been hugged in a while.

But Jet didn't let go. Instead, he began to trace circular patterns on Lee's back; gently, slowly, hoping to provide some comfort to this boy that he had only just met but wanted to help more than anything right now.

Slowly, Lee relaxed in Jet's embrace, letting his arms hang and his head rest on Jet's shoulder. Jet smiled softly at that response, and started humming a tune that he barely remembered, one that his mother hummed when he was feeling sad or alone, as he continued to stroke Lee's back. This helped Lee even more, judging from the sigh escaping his lips. Jet could have sworn he felt a teardrop land on his shoulder by the other boy's face, but that could also have been a water droplet splashing up from the lake, he wasn't entirely sure.

Jet lifted Lee's face to his, holding him by the chin, and kissed him on the lips. The pale boy's eyes popped open, but then closed in pleasure. He sighed happily when Jet released him, melting into the tan boy's embrace once again as Jet ran his long fingers through Lee's hair.

Jet looked over Lee's shoulder, noting the presence of the moon and the stars. "It's getting late," the Freedom Fighter whispered. "We should head back before anyone starts worrying about us." He felt Lee nod against his shoulder, and Jet – slowly, prolonging the moment as long as he could – let go of him. The boy seemed somewhat calmer, but also a little confused. Jet hoped he hadn't pushed him too far already.

As they approached Lee's uncle, the pale teen smiled at him tentatively, as if unsure of what to do or say. Jet mirrored his expression, and hurriedly bid him good night before heading off to rejoin Longshot and Smellerbee in their section of the deck.

_Things are about to get interesting_, he thought before dropping off to sleep.

* * *

Please review, give constructive criticism, etc. as necessary.


	3. Chapter III

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

**Author's Note: **From this chapter onward, there has been some light editing from the version that was previously posted at the Avatar Big Bang LiveJournal community. Just so you know.

* * *

**Chapter III**

Zuko lay upon his bed mat, aching from the events that had just transpired between Jet and himself. Why had he told him so much about himself? Zuko was never this open with people he knew, let alone a complete stranger. It was very confusing, and he could feel a headache coming on because of his contemplation of said confusion.

But there was something about Jet that jumped out and said to Zuko, _I'm here for you, man. You can tell me anything, I'll listen. _And to be honest, it had felt really good to express his frustrations with the world to another person. Normally, he would have just let it go through meditation with the use of fire and deep breathing, but seeing as he was supposed to be a refugee from the Fire Nation, anything involving the control or use of fire not produced from an external source would look a little strange and could get him in deep trouble.

But anyway, talking to Jet had felt good, actually, one of the first things that had felt good in a long time for Zuko. And it helped that the other boy had a certain amount of understanding of his situation, due to the loss of his own parents and general loneliness in the world. It was like they were kindred spirits, destined to meet and – oh, Agni, he was starting to sound ridiculous, even to his own mind. His mind was obviously losing focus, which meant it was probably time to get some sleep. Zuko bid Uncle good night, relaxed his breathing, and closed his eyes.

Normally, Zuko was not one to dream much, but on the rare occasions that he did, they tended to be somewhat important or highly symbolic dreams. In his current vision, he was seated in a little boat in the middle of a lake. The water was misty, but quite beautiful at the same time.

A figure began swimming out of the mist toward his boat. When the figure got close enough, Zuko could see that it was Jet. Smiles lit both of their features, and Jet paddled closer. The teen draped his arms over the edge of the boat and then pushed himself up to kiss Zuko.

Suddenly, storm clouds appeared above the lake, followed by thunder and lightning. The water began to churn unpleasantly, and Jet clung to the boat for dear life. Zuko tried to hoist him up into the boat, but Jet couldn't seem to get out of the water.

A lightning blast arrived, striking Jet squarely between the shoulders. He cried out and then began to sink beneath the waves. Zuko tried to save him, but the water was too dangerous. A second blast caused the boat to capsize, and Zuko fell in, drowning as well. As he sank, he saw another figure walking on top of the water, and he could hear maniacal laughter that sounded disturbingly like Azula's.

A final lightning blast, and the dream ended. Zuko awoke, shocked by the events of the dream. Additionally, Zuko had always been a light sleeper, and he thought he heard Uncle gasp at something. He was standing near the railing, looking up at something with a surprised expression on his face. Zuko pushed himself up on one arm and sleepily asked, "Uncle? What are you looking at? Is there something out there?"

Hastily, as if covering something up, Uncle replied, "It's nothing. Go back to sleep." Zuko wanted to ask more questions, but his body badly wanted to take Uncle's advice, so he did not protest when his arm gave out and his eyes slid closed again.

The next morning, Zuko was the first to wake in their misty lake settings. Uncle lay in his usual slumber, a contented drooling smile on his face. He rubbed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened yesterday. Getting on the boat, meeting Jet, stealing food with Jet, eating with Jet, talking with Jet, hugging Jet, kissing Jet – OH AGNI WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM YESTERDAY?

Zuko scrambled to the prow of the ship, barely resisting the urge to lose what little food he had left in his stomach to the water. Shit, what had he done yesterday? One minute he was his usual, stoic, angry self, and the next thing he knew he was kissing someone! Specifically, a _guy! _Great, as if he wasn't enough of a loser and an outcast, now that he'd done this, he was sure to be cast out of the family completely, if not executed for his sexual deviancy! Oh spirits, what had he done?

He wrapped his hands tightly around his forearms, breathing heavily. What was he going to do now? And why in the name of Agni did Jet kiss him in the first place? The last person who had kissed him was his mother, and that definitely did not count on the romantic kiss scale. And nobody wanted to kiss him anyway, being the weak, unfavorable outcast prince that he was. He had convinced himself that since his mother was gone, he was now unlovable. So the concept of Jet being affectionate with him and what possible emotions were behind those affectionate actions completely eluded him.

Then there was that dream from last night, which Zuko vaguely remembered. He wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but he had a feeling that something was going to happen to him and Jet in the future, probably involving Azula as well. He would ponder that later.

He could hear footsteps behind him. Whoever it was behind him had better have a really good reason for needing to talk to him, otherwise a head might be rolling off the ship momentarily.

"You know, as soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were." Jet! Shit! And from those words he just said, he knew who Zuko really was! Double shit! Oh, this day was just going to be glorious, wasn't it?

Jet pulled up beside him, staring over the prow at the water. He continued, "You're an outcast, like me." Zuko mentally sighed – his identity was not in jeopardy, thank Agni. "And us outcasts have to stick together. We have to watch each other's backs, because no one else will."

Boy, did those words ring true with Zuko. Being on his own – with or without Uncle, it didn't really matter at this point – was a struggle to survive every day, and if he wasn't careful he was going to die sometime soon. He remembered how it had felt to have Jet hold him last night, and realized that he had truly missed the comfort of human companionship. Zuko replied, "I've realized lately that being on your own isn't always the best path." Jet nodded, and sucked on his grass blade.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Jet said, "I'm sorry about last night. I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted -"

"It's all right," Zuko cut him off. "We were both just in the heat of the moment, I guess." He blushed slightly. "Not that I minded."

"Oh, that's…good," Jet replied with a nervous laugh.

"Actually, I kind of…liked it," Zuko admitted, his blush deepening.

"That's cool," Jet said. "Did you like it enough to…do it again?"

Zuko paused. Attachment was bad, especially considering who and what he was. Most people here didn't like the Fire Nation, Jet included, and if he found out that secret, things could get bad. And he was still a virgin, after all, so there was no way he would be able (or know how) to satisfy himself in the leading position properly. Then again, Jet was the one who had initiated their contact last night, and they had both seemingly enjoyed it in that formation. Besides, he didn't think Jet would take it far enough that he would need to give all of himself up so quickly. Oh well, this relationship wouldn't be a terrible thing.

So he said yes.

Jet smiled at him. "I'm glad," he said, and then began kissing Zuko once again. Zuko noticed that it seemed a lot easier this time. There was a fervency behind the kisses, but also a gentleness, as if Jet wanted him to know that he wouldn't force him into any compromising situations.

After a moment or two of sucking face, Jet moved away from his lips and onto that curved spot between his neck and his right shoulder – oh, Agni, it felt glorious to be kissed there. Zuko actually let out a little moan at the contact, surprising both himself and Jet. The other boy paused, as if waiting to see what would happen next.

"Don't stop," Zuko gasped out. "Please, don't stop." He felt his body temperature rising with the ecstasy of being kissed like this. In particular, his groin seemed to be getting quite warm, almost uncomfortably so. He reached a hand down to cup himself, but Jet got there just seconds before he did.

"Do you want me to touch you?" Jet asked as he leaned in to kiss the shell of Zuko's good ear.

"Yes," Zuko gasped. The heat and the pressure were becoming unbearable, even more than a normal erection would have for him. Being a citizen of the Fire Nation and a bender at that, it was easy for him to get heated up anywhere, but his groin was particularly susceptible, especially when in situations like this. As a result, most people in the Fire Nation greatly enjoyed sexual activity, and Zuko was currently among them.

Jet smiled at him again, and then, while continuing to kiss Zuko, used those long fingers to stroke his bulge, which was growing in both size and heat. "Big boy," he commented. "Very nice."

Zuko barely nodded before letting out another moan as his erection rose to its peak. Eurgh, now he understood why sexual pleasure, when done correctly, could also induce some pain. It hurt to have his dick up this high without the support of his hands, and a great deal of pressure was rising around there, which was somewhat unpleasant. He screwed his eyes shut and groaned, "Fuuuuuuuuck..."

Jet stopped kissing him for a moment. "What's wrong? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Zuko shook his head. "This hurts…when it gets like this," he said, gesturing down to his groin. Oh, Agni, now he was getting desperate. If he didn't do something about this hard-on, he was going to burst. Possibly in more ways than one.

Jet smiled at him and replied, "I've got it." He got down on his knees before Zuko and slid the front of his robe aside. "Is this all right?"

Zuko looked at Jet's position and realized what the other boy was planning to do to finish things off. He nodded before groaning once again. "Hurry." He really hoped no one was around to hear this, especially Uncle; that would be an incredibly awkward thing to discuss with him, or anyone else for that matter. Hopefully it would never come up. _Hopefully_.

Jet nodded back, and then lowered Zuko's pants to reveal his bulging erection, now fully realized and pointing straight at him. Without the obstruction of clothes, it was much easier to get pleasurable noises out of Zuko with his still-gentle touches, which the Prince did not particularly appreciate at this point. He growled out, "End it. Anyway you please, just end it _now_."

Jet chuckled at him, "All right, all right. Just let me get settled." He loosely gripped Zuko's left hip for support with one hand, while holding his robe out to the side. He then moved his mouth into Zuko's groin and began sucking on his member.

At first, Zuko wasn't quite sure what to do. He hadn't expected Jet to do _this _when he said to finish him off any way he pleased, but here they were. It was a little bit strange to be having someone down there, doing what Jet was doing, which – oh, _Agni_, that was _glorious_! All coherent thought ceased and Jet flooded Zuko's mind. He reached down and threaded his hands in Jet's hair - which was surprisingly soft, although Zuko suspected it had been a while since Jet had taken a bath or washed his hair - and smiles spread across both of their faces.

Jet had obviously done this before; otherwise he wouldn't have been so good at it. The way his tongue slid down his shaft and flicked at his head and everything else that was going on down there was wonderful. This was definitely the best thing to happen to him in a while, possibly the best in the three years that he had been gone.

After a minute or two, Zuko came in Jet's mouth. He started to warn the Freedom Fighter of this fact, but it came too quick to get out the words he wanted to say. Jet didn't seem to mind, though – he swallowed what landed in his mouth, and then licked up the rest to clean both himself and Zuko.

The prince's legs gave out with the force of his orgasm, and Jet caught him. He cradled Zuko in his arms, smoothing his hair back into place as Zuko smiled up at him.

"Sorry I didn't warn you," Zuko said, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's alright," Jet replied. "I didn't mind." He smiled back at Zuko. "Was it good for you?"

Zuko pushed himself up and kissed Jet fiercely on the lips.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Jet said when the kiss was complete. He smiled down at Zuko, and bent to continue kissing him. They stayed there for a while longer, just sitting and talking and kissing a lot.

Suddenly, the boat made a loud honking noise, which they assumed meant they were close to landing. The boys decided it was time for them to return to their respective groups, although they didn't really want to. Jet walked Zuko back to his uncle before retreating to Longshot and Smellerbee.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Uncle asked when Zuko arrived.

Zuko shrugged. "Things might actually be alright in Ba Sing Se, Uncle," he replied. And hopefully they would be, if this thing with Jet was going to continue.

* * *

Please review, give constructive criticism, etc. as necessary.


	4. Chapter IV

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter IV**

At last, the boat landed at a train station near Ba Sing Se. Pretty much everyone was happy to get off, stretch their legs, and hopefully find something to eat before moving on to the big city.

After getting their train tickets (and witnessing Uncle practically seduce the ticket lady and then her response to said seduction), Zuko sat on a bench beside Uncle, arms crossed and slouching in his seat, with Jet on his other side. They had nothing to do but wait for the train.

Jet asked, "You guys got a plan once you get in the city?"

To be honest, Zuko hadn't put a whole lot of thought into it. There wasn't much work for either of them - all Uncle knew how to do was make tea, play the Tsungi Horn, defeat people at Pai Sho, and Firebend; Zuko was really only good at sword work, stealth, and sometimes Firebending - so their prospects were pretty low. And any work that they did find wouldn't pay very well, so they'd probably have to find a cheap apartment in whatever they called the slums in Ba Sing Se – wasn't it the Lower Ring?

Just before Zuko was about to tell Jet their potential plan, they heard a man come wheeling by with a tea cart, which Uncle procured a cup of jasmine tea from, which turned out to be very cold and therefore disgusting tea, according to Uncle.

As Uncle was complaining about the tea, Jet leaned over to Zuko and said, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" He gestured for the prince to follow him.

Zuko sighed. He wondered what Jet could want this time, and if it would be good for him as well as for Jet. Nonetheless, he walked over to the Freedom Fighter to see what he wanted.

Jet began, "You know, we have a much better chance of making in the city if we stick together. You want to join the Freedom Fighters?"

Zuko looked away. If he joined Jet's little ragtag team, things would get really dangerous, especially if one of those inconvenient wanted posters turned up in the city. "Thanks," he replied, "but I don't think you'll want me in your gang."

"Come on," Jet pleaded. "We made a great team looting that food on the boat. Think of all the good we could do for these refugees."

"Jet, I can't," Zuko said. "I don't want you or anyone else getting hurt because of what I've done or what I could do. It's too risky." He started to turn around and retreat to his spot on the bench, but Jet grabbed him by the hand.

"Lee," he said, "I really want you to stay with me. Please. We could do so much good for these people. And…I really like you, too. I don't want to say goodbye when we've just met. I don't want to lose another person I care about. Please."

Okay, Jet was really good at playing the heartbroken, needy type. The bit about losing another person was a bit much, but it was something Zuko could relate to. It was one of the things they had in common. And besides, Jet was an enemy of the Fire Nation, just like Zuko and Uncle now were. And as the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And he had to admit, Jet was very good-looking and charismatic.

Zuko sighed, but finally said, "All right. I'll join you guys. But I thought you weren't really going to do the whole Freedom Fighter thing any more?"

"Not to the extent that we did before," Jet admitted. "I just want the people of the Earth Kingdom to be happy, to have a little hope."

"Hope? Why hope?" Zuko asked.

"Without hope, you can't do anything," Jet replied. "You've always got to believe that when times are tough, there's something you're fighting for, something good." He smiled, and held out his hand to Zuko. "So you'll join me, then?"

The exiled prince nodded, and clasped Jet's offered hand. "I'll go tell my uncle." He retreated to the bench where Uncle was seated, just finishing his tea.

Once seated, he turned to face Uncle. "I've decided to join up with Jet and his friends," he stated.

"Oh?" Uncle replied. "And what sort of things do you plan to do with these new friends of yours?"

"I don't know. Jet said he just wanted to make life better for the Earth Kingdom, so I don't think we'll end up doing anything too huge," Zuko guessed. "If we ever leave the city, we'll probably just try to stop Earth Kingdom prejudice and that sort of thing."

Uncle chuckled. "You're really going to turn your back on everything that your father has taught you? Good for you!" He clapped Zuko on the shoulder. "But what are you going to do for money? We're almost bankrupt now."

"We'll probably have to get jobs," Zuko replied. "You included. Which means we'll probably need to find a tea shop, since that's about the only useful thing you can do -"

"Hey! I'm good at other things!" Uncle protested. "I play a lovely Tsungi Horn, and so do you, Zuko!"

"Emphasis on _useful_, Uncle," Zuko finished. "Somehow I doubt there will be a need for Tsungi Horn players in the city. And besides, we don't even have one with us, thank Agni."

"Okay, okay," the older man replied. "I'll be perfectly happy in a tea shop. Now the only problem will be _finding_ one. I was never in the Lower Ring, so I have no clue where to look."

"We'll find one," Zuko said. "I've got a good feeling about it."

"Goodness, you sound so hopeful!" Uncle put a hand to Zuko's forehead. "What has happened to you, Nephew? What has caused you to be so – dare I say it, _optimistic_ all of a sudden?"

"If you don't have hope, then what's the point of living?" Zuko replied with a soft smile.

The train pulled into the station, and all of the passengers from the boat got on. While Uncle chatted with a young couple seated next to them, Zuko looked out the window at the approaching city.

Ba Sing Se. A new beginning.

* * *

Please review, give constructive criticism, etc. as necessary.


	5. Chapter V

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter V**

A few days later, the Freedom Fighters plus Mushi and Lee were settled into a pair of apartments in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se. Jet, Longshot and Smellerbee were in one, and Lee and Mushi were in the adjacent hovel. It wasn't much, but at least it was someplace to eat and sleep.

Immediately after arriving in the city, the teens and their elderly companion (who now served as their general advisor and supervisor) had started looking for work. It was a fairly tight and fruitless market, due largely to the presence of their fellow refugees, who were also looking for work in the city, and the age range of the group as well. Most of the shopkeepers and restaurant owners didn't particularly want to hire a bunch of teenagers or an old guy.

Finally, Jet, Lee, and Mushi found work at a tiny, cramped tea shop under a man named Pao, much to Mushi's delight. Smellerbee and Longshot were hired at a restaurant that was over a few streets and was in a similar condition.

They combined what little money they had and bought food, which Mushi usually cooked for them. If the Freedom Fighters weren't eating at Mushi and Lee's apartment, the old man would be sure to make plenty of food and make Lee take it over to their companions.

Speaking of Lee, Jet continued to pursue their relationship as much as possible. They would engage in the carnal acts that they had participated occasionally, but mostly it was just kisses and hugs and things like that. Jet had pretty much established himself as the "man" in the relationship, somewhat to Lee's chagrin. They hadn't gone "all the way" just yet, but they were both content with just the kisses, hugs, and occasional blowjob that they enacted.

The only trouble was that Lee would only let Jet do that sort of thing when they were in one of their apartments. He didn't really want to be seen kissing in public, let alone kissing a boy. Jet could understand why – he considered the idea that maybe where Lee came from, the concept of boys being in love was frowned upon. It wasn't an uncommon belief, but Jet was guessing that things would be okay in the city. After all, Ba Sing Se was supposed to be like the utopia of the Earth Kingdom, the greatest city on this continent, right? Surely they'd be accepting of anyone and everyone.

Anyway, Jet wasn't sure if Lee was just nervous or if it was something else. He kept meaning to ask, but he could never find the time. Most of the time, Lee would wake up, go to work, eat, go to sleep, and then do it all over again. This cycle made it a little bit difficult for Jet to enjoy Lee's company when they weren't working. It was rather off-putting and worrisome.

Also, Jet wouldn't admit this publicly, but he really did want Lee to admit that he loved him. He was pretty sure that he did, but it was nice to be reassured of the fact. Jet wanted to shout it from the rooftops that he loved Lee, but he was pretty sure Lee would hate him forever if he did that. So he would wait for the moment when Lee would confess his love. Until then, he would continue to shower his lover with all of the affection he deserved.

When they were at work, there was a pretty clear idea of who really was okay with being here. Jet and Mushi had been established as the charismatic waiters, the ones who would talk to their customers before, during, and after their tea drinking. Mushi had a way of charming the older folks, while Jet appealed to the youth, particularly the young ladies. They were always giggly whenever he'd come around and talk to them, and tried a number of times to get him to go on dates with them, which he always refused on the grounds of being tied down to someone else (he would never reveal Lee's and his relationship without consent from the other boy), much to the girls' dismay.

Lee, on the other hand…well, let's just say he wasn't the most talkative of waiters. He would usually just take an order, get it to the person or people who ordered it, and walk away to the next one. He was efficient, but very quiet and blunt, almost giving off a cold demeanor.

One day, the three companions were finishing up at the shop while waiting for their boss to come back and pay them, when a girl came up the counter (where Lee was tidying up). Jet was pretty sure her name was Jin, but he could be wrong. Now, the funny thing about this girl Jin was that she had consistently gotten her orders placed with Lee, and didn't seem to mind his cold, quiet behavior. If anything, she seemed somewhat fascinated by it. So she kept coming back to the tea shop for about a week (which was surprising in itself; the shop was not very well-known or very visually appealing, although Mushi's skill at brewing tea was bringing in more customers than had ever come to the shop before) and always waited for Lee to take her order, regardless of how many times Jet or Mushi came to check on her.

Now, Lee was not stupid, Jet knew that. He probably knew that this girl had been essentially stalking him at the shop. But the thing Jet could not get around was how Lee just blew Jin off, never once paying attention to her (she was actually quite pretty). But then, he was like that with everybody. Still, it was unkind to just blatantly ignore a girl who pretty clearly likes you.

At the present moment, Lee was behind the counter and whispering furiously at his uncle. Mushi turned to look at Jin, but then Lee quickly turned him back around. The old man whispered something to Lee that made him balk just as Jin came up to the counter to pay for her tea (like Mushi, she was a fan of jasmine).

She introduced herself to Lee and Mushi, and then they returned the pleasantries. Then she asked the one thing that was expected, yet unexpected of her.

"Would you like to go out sometime?" she asked Lee.

Before Lee could find time to get his thoughts together, Mushi replied, "He'd love to!"

Jin smiled, and said, "Great! I'll meet you at the shop at sundown." And she walked out of the shop, thanking Jet on her way out.

Okay. Jet was not usually a jealous person, he liked to think. He didn't mind when Longshot and Smellerbee left him alone at night or during the day to do whatever it was that they did when they were together (Jet liked to think that they were off having sex, partially because he's a bit of a pervert and also because they really seem happy together and are practically made for each other; Longshot is one of the few people who can keep Smellerbee calm on a regular basis, and Smellerbee can get Longshot to express himself verbally and physically in a way that no one, not even Jet sometimes, can get). He also didn't mind when Katara seemed closer to her brother and Aang than him, although they had been sort of close when that group had visited the Freedom Fighters' encampment. But this person – someone who asked his Lee out on a date (even though they weren't really very official, he considered Lee to be his lover) – just annoyed him. He wouldn't stop Lee from going, no sir, but he still wouldn't be very happy about this. Not at all.

While they were on their way back to the apartment, it was deadly silent. Lee was walking very fast ahead of his uncle, who was walking ahead of Jet. Jet was unsure of what to say or do that wouldn't offend either of the people in front of him, so he just decided to stay silent. He would probably think about this situation all during Lee's date tonight, when he was home alone (Longshot and Smellerbee tended to work longer hours at their restaurant than the tea shop trio did).

That didn't work so well. Not only did Jet think about his connections to Lee that night, but he also ended up thinking about other things that made him sad and unhappy. Like his abandonment by the Freedom Fighters, his abandonment by the Avatar's party, and his forced abandonment by his parents.

Jet knows that he doesn't really seem like the type to worry about anything. But that's just the face he puts on in public. Really, he worries about all kinds of things. He sometimes wonders how he's going to get his next meal. He wonders what he'll do if he or any of the Freedom Fighters get sick, because none of them can really afford to get good medicine without sacrificing other things. He wonders what would happen if he were to die, either at the hands of the Fire Nation or of natural causes. He wonders what would happen to Lee if they were to be separated for any reason.

But most of all, he wonders why he is here on this planet. Jet may not have any legitimate schooling, but he knows enough to question things like his existence and that sort of thing. Was he born to save the world? No, that would be Aang, being the Avatar and all that. Jet didn't think he could handle that sort of pressure on his shoulders. Poor kid.

But back to the matter at hand: why is Jet here? He's pretty sure it's not just to die. That would be a pointless existence. Then again, humans are not immortal, so they can die, unlike spirits or that sort of thing. They don't live forever; ergo, Jet will not live forever, nor does he intend to. Jet is of the mind that being immortal would suck quite a bit, having to watch the world change around you while you stay the same and don't age, never being able to join those you love when they pass on to the next life.

Jet gave up on these ponderings in his brain, owing to the fact that he was getting tired and he was hungry. He resigned himself to the fact that he might never know his purpose for living, and if he did manage to figure it out, it would come as a total surprise. He just hoped that he figured it out before he died. He then closed his eyes and dozed off.

He awoke when he heard some muffled shuffling noises through his bedroom wall, which meant that Lee was home from his date. The walls of the apartment were thin, and they discovered early on that their bedrooms were adjacent, and the walls were thin enough that they could hear each other through them.

Jet sat up with his back against the wall and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He yawned and asked, "So…how did it go?"

After a moment, Lee replied, "It was nice."

"You like her?" Jet inquired while stretching his arms over his head.

"Not the way you think," Lee said with a sigh. "She was nice and pretty and all, but she's just not the right one for me."

"Oh." Jet drummed his fingers on his leg while he thought of something to say. He wanted to know whom Lee thought was the one for him, but that would be a little too far forward for the boy, so he settled on figuring out what had happened during the date. "What happened?"

"We ate dinner," Lee replied. "She eats like an ostrich-horse. And she asked me to juggle."

Jet snorted, "Juggle? Why would she ask you to do that?"

"I didn't want to seem like a loser," Lee explained, "so I told her that Uncle and I had been in a travelling circus before we came to the city and she suggested that I was a juggler. It didn't end well."

Jet chuckled. "I can imagine it didn't. What else did you do with her? Did you kiss?"

"We went to a fountain, and she kissed me, but I couldn't kiss her," Lee said.

"What? Why didn't you kiss her back?" Jet inquired, somewhat surprised. It was usually pretty bad form to reject a kiss from a girl, especially one as pretty as Jin.

"I told her it was complicated," Lee replied. "I regretted it, but when I tried to kiss her back, I couldn't get you out of my head."

"Me? Why would you be thinking of me when you're kissing a girl?" This was a surprise. Lee wasn't usually this open about his personal musings, unless he was really exhausted or worked up about something. Perhaps he was going to say what Jet wanted him to say, at last? Was Lee going to confess his love to Jet? (_Oh, spirits,_ Jet thought after his previous thought, _I'm starting to sound like one of those girls at the tea shop. Definitely not good. Mushi gets to handle them tomorrow. Ack, I'm sounding too sappy!)_

"Because nobody kisses me quite like you do," Lee said. "And I like that a lot." The sounds from his side of the wall indicated that he was settling into his bed, and he bid Jet good night.

_Well, that was informative and progressive_, Jet thought as he curled up to sleep once again, this time with a contented smile on his face. _At least he likes my kissing. _


	6. Chapter VI

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter VI**

A few days after his date with Jin, Zuko woke up feeling mildly uncomfortable at the thought of having to see Jin at the shop again. He didn't like her in the way he suspected she had liked him – emphasis on the word _had_, because after that awkward date, Zuko wasn't sure if she would ever want to see him again – and if she tried to ask him out again, things would get even worse.

Zuko recognized that Jin was quite pretty – indeed, she could probably put some of the girls in the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to shame with her beauty – and nice and pretty easy to talk to, but he just couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was being disloyal to Jet by doing this. If anything, Jin reminded him of a less passionate, female version of the Freedom Fighter leader. And that was what made things "complicated" with Jin, as he so eloquently put it last night before running home.

And, to be honest, Zuko found that his feelings for Jet ran deeper than anything he could have felt for Jin. Jet seemed to be just a natural fit, someone that was quite obviously the right person to love for him.

Yes, Zuko _did_ love Jet. After spending time with him, he realized that no one treated him as well as Jet did – except for Uncle and Mother, but that was a different kind of love, a familial bond rather than a romantic one – and no one was ever as affectionate with him as Jet was (again, the exceptions being his uncle and mother). The only thing was that he just wasn't sure when he would be able to tell Jet of his feelings. He was pretty sure Jet loved him, but Zuko worried that they were moving too fast. They didn't know every single thing about each other – and, with the blessings of Agni and the other spirits, Jet never would know everything, especially his true heritage and bending prowess – and Zuko feared that if Jet found out who and what he was, he would leave him. And Zuko couldn't stand the thought of being abandoned again. So for now, he would just play it safe, and keep Jet in the dark about that for as long as possible. And when the moment was right, he would confess his love to Jet.

At any rate, it was time to go to work. Zuko changed into his work clothes, slipped on his shoes, and went out to the main room of their apartment, where Uncle was waiting for him, clad in his own work clothes. They stepped outside, and Jet was waiting for them as usual.

When they got to the tea shop, it was in its usual pre-opening state of dust and decay, so the shopkeeper Pao told Jet and Zuko were tasked with sweeping and wiping tables before any customers arrived. They did this in silence except for the occasional cough or sneeze at the movements of dust and dirt.

"She hasn't come back yet," Jet said at length. Zuko realized that he was probably talking about Jin.

"I know," Zuko replied. "I hope she's alright." He didn't want to be responsible for breaking a girl's heart, or anyone else's for that matter.

"She probably is. There're plenty of fish in the sea, I'm sure she'll find someone eventually." Jet brushed some dust from Zuko's shoulder. "I think we're about done here," he said as he surveyed their surroundings.

Zuko nodded, and made to retreat to the kitchen to put on his apron, but Jet grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him in for a kiss. Zuko ached to keep going, but he felt like he had to stop. He always hated when Jet kissed him in the tea shop, even when no one was around. He felt like people would see him through even the smallest chink in the window and laugh at him for being so weak as to love a boy, and his pride and self esteem couldn't take that.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" Jet asked, looking confused.

"It's not that," Zuko replied. "I just don't want anyone to see."

"Why are you so worried about someone seeing us together?" Jet inquired. "It's not like they can tell us to stop. We're independent teenagers, we do whatever we want."

"I just…" Zuko faltered, unsure of what to say. "I don't want to move too fast. I don't want someone to see. I don't want to have to give up on this if someone sees and they think it's odd." He looked away. "In my hometown, I'm pretty sure I would be married by now, if I hadn't gotten kicked out, to a girl. I just get nervous about this sort of thing. So please, just bear with me."

Jet sighed. "I don't really see what the problem is, but I'll play it your way." He kissed Zuko on the forehead. "Because I care about you." They shared a smile, and then went to the kitchen to tie on their aprons.

The shop was operating pretty normally – no weird people, nobody attempting to flirt with Zuko and everyone flirting with Jet and Uncle, Pao complimenting Uncle for his excellent tea-brewing and stealing all of his tips – so that was nice. Well, as nice as could be expected in this situation.

Towards the middle of the day, it was getting a bit packed. Typically, some of the higher-ups from the Middle or Upper Rings would come down to the shop during this part of the day, due to the reputation Uncle Iroh had apparently earned from his tea-brewing prowess in the short time they had been in the city. One table in particular acted as if, from the looks of that table's patrons, they could afford as much tea as they pleased, and could buy the place if they really wanted to do so. And they were definitely pleased with the tea, judging from the number of pots they had ordered in the last hour.

At last, that table stood up to leave. Zuko collected their tea cups, and took them back to the kitchen to Jet (Pao had put Jet on dishwashing duty today), and waited for more orders or empty tables to appear. The man who appeared to be in charge of them, some nobleman or what-have-you, came up to Iroh and commented, "So _you're _the genius behind this brew! The whole city is buzzing about you." He bowed to Iroh. "I hope Pao pays you well."

Uncle bowed back to the man, smiled and replied, "Good tea is its own reward." Typical Uncle – that remark made it sound like he actually enjoyed living in near poverty, just as long as he got to enjoy himself making tea.

The man smiled back. "But it doesn't have to be the only reward. How would you like to have your own tea shop?"

Iroh gaped at him. "My own tea shop? This is a dream come true!"

Before the nobleman could say another word more, Pao scurried over to stand between the man and Iroh, blocking the latter with his body. "What's going on here? Are you trying to poach my tea maker?"

The man chuckled, "Sorry Pao, that's business for you, am I right?"

Pao now turned to Uncle. He pleaded, "Mushi, if you stay I'll make you Assistant Manager. Wait – _Senior_ Assistant Manager!"

The nobleman looked over Pao's shoulder at Uncle and said, "I'll provide you with a new apartment in the Upper Ring, and the tea shop is yours to do however you want. Complete creative freedom."

Uncle was practically bouncing with joy. "I even get to name the shop?"

"Of course!" replied the man.

Pao squeaked out, "Senior _Executive _Assistant Manager?"

Uncle put the teapot he had been holding into Pao's hands. The shopkeeper walked away dejectedly. The exchange complete, Zuko came back out to the main room and began picking up more empty tea cups. Uncle noticed him and practically chirped, "Did you hear, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the Upper Ring!"

The nobleman nodded, adding, "That's right, young man. Your life is about to change for the better."

Tired of all of the sudden elation in the room, Zuko set down the tray of tea cups he had been holding on a nearby table, and growled out, "I'll try to contain my joy." He stalked out the door of the restaurant, closing the door behind him.

Zuko sighed, and leaned against the front of the building. What was Uncle doing, putting down roots here? This wasn't part of the plan! They were just going to hide out here for a while until Azula stopped hunting them!

Then again, Uncle Iroh hadn't specified how long "a while" was going to be when he said they were going to go to the city. Zuko assumed he meant a few weeks, a few months at the most. But from the way Uncle was talking now, it would be years before he saw the world outside Ba Sing Se again. And that was not a good plan if Zuko intended to continue his mission to capture the Avatar.

Speaking of the Avatar, a flyer depicting something that looked vaguely like a bison came fluttering down to Zuko. When he picked it up, he realized that it was not just a bison, but also the Avatar's Sky Bison. The flyer was advertising the Avatar's search for the bison, which had apparently gone missing. He climbed up to the rooftop of the tea shop, where he saw more flyers fluttering down from the sky. He inferred that the Avatar was flying across the sky and leaving the papers in his wake.

The Avatar was in Ba Sing Se. This put a whole new spin on things. Here, Zuko could have a chance to end things, and reclaim his honor at last. Here, things would finally turn out right.

Zuko spent the rest of his shift quietly pondering what to do with this new information. He knew that he would probably need some assistance with this mission, so he would see if Uncle would be willing to help him out.

He knew for sure that he would not ask Jet about this, or mention it to him. Doing so would destroy everything on both ends of the equation; Jet would definitely not want to be with him when he found out what he was doing, and if Jet somehow knew the Avatar, things would be even worse, because then things could get even worse because Jet might turn him over to the Avatar's group, who might turn him over to the authorities in Ba Sing Se, and that would just be bad all over. So as of now, Jet was out of this operation.

He came in the door to their apartment and found Uncle Iroh packing a chest. Uncle began, "I was thinking about names for my tea shop. How about the Jasmine Dragon? It's dramatic, poetic, and it has a nice ring to it."

Zuko pulled the flyer out of his shirt where he had hidden it and handed it to Iroh. "The Avatar's here in Ba Sing Se. And he's lost his bison."

Uncle gaped at him. "Where did you find this?"

"It came down from the sky," Zuko replied. "The Avatar must have been flying these around the whole city."

"We have a chance for a new life here," Uncle said as Zuko walked over to a window. "If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose _all_ of the good things that are happening to us."

Zuko scoffed, "Good things that are happening for you." He turned around to look at Uncle. "Have you ever thought that I want more out of life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea? That I want to get out of here?"

"There's nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity," Uncle replied, holding his hands up in surrender. "I suggest you thing about what it is that you really want for your life, and why."

Zuko knew the answer to this question easily. It was the one thing that had kept him going for the last three years of this forsaken venture. "I want my destiny."

Uncle sighed. "What that means is up to you." He returned to his packing and tea shop musings as Zuko exited the main room.

Zuko went to his bedroom and settled against the wall that was adjacent to the Freedom Fighters' apartment. He knew Jet would be in his room, since there wasn't a whole lot to do in these little hovels and Jet had a tendency to get bored when Longshot and Smellerbee were gone.

"I've got some news," Jet said.

"What is it?" Zuko asked. He actually wasn't sure what Jet could have that was newsworthy. Perhaps Longshot and Smellerbee were quitting their jobs or something along those lines?

"The Avatar's here," Jet replied.

"You know the Avatar?" Zuko said. This was surprising; Jet hadn't mentioned that he knew the Avatar before this.

"Yeah," Jet replied. "He and his friends came through my camp a while back. We were sort of friends."

"Sort of? What's that mean?" Zuko inquired.

"Well, there's this Water Tribe girl who travels with him," Jet explained. "Her name's Katara. We kind of had a fling, but she caught me doing one of my less than savory missions and froze me to a tree."

That little Water Tribe bitch would do that. After all, she trapped Zuko in a ball of ice and then against a wall of ice in the span of about five minutes. Obviously she had a penchant for doing that sort of thing to guys she didn't like. "So what are they doing in the city?" Zuko asked.

"Their Sky Bison, Appa, is missing," Jet said. "If they'll let me, I'm going to try and help them find him. Do you want to come with me?"

Well, this was an unexpected turn of events. Zuko hadn't expected Jet to know the Avatar's group, let alone that he would want him to help out with the search for the bison. But if he did help them, things could get really bad really fast and he would probably end up injured or frozen to something else. So Zuko decided to feign innocence, given the current situation and his awareness of the Avatar, and said, "I don't think so."

"Why not?" Jet asked. "I thought we were all for helping people."

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be a little awkward for a complete stranger to be helping them, especially when combined with you?" Zuko countered.

"I hadn't thought of that," Jet replied. "Oh well. I'm still going to try." They shifted positions. "You want me to come over?" the Freedom Fighter leader asked.

"Actually, do you want to go get something to eat? I'm kind of hungry," Zuko said.

"Sounds good to me," Jet replied. "Meet you outside in a few minutes?"

"Yeah," Zuko said. They got up from their seats at the walls simultaneously. The Crown Prince told Iroh that he was going out to eat with Jet, and walked out the door, where he met his almost-boyfriend. They then trudged down the stairs to the lower levels of their apartment complex and started walking the streets in an attempt to find a decent place to eat.

After nearly a half hour of walking, they finally settled at an outdoor restaurant. Oddly enough, it was the same one where Zuko had gone on his date with Jin. The teen rid those thoughts from his mind, and sat down across from Jet.

"So, you and your uncle are moving out?" Jet asked after they had placed their orders.

"Yeah," Zuko replied. "This nobleman guy is paying for a new apartment for us and a new tea shop for Uncle."

"That's pretty awesome," Jet replied. "Guess that means I'll be stuck with Pao, though."

"You could probably come with us," Zuko suggested. "The apartment's going to be huge, since it's in the Upper Ring. Smellerbee and Longshot could tag along too. They'd probably be able to get better jobs, too, if they came."

"You really care if they get better jobs?" Jet asked, arching an eyebrow.

Zuko chuckled. "Not really. I just want you to come with us. It'll be weird without you. And besides, you said us outcasts have got to stick together."

Jet smiled his trademark smile. "I _did_ say that." The server arrived with their food, and he thanked the man for it. "But you're right, it would be weird without you."

Zuko smiled back, and then dug into his food. Jet did the same.

"You wanna juggle for me?" Jet asked, gesturing to the basket of rolls the waiter had put on their table.

"Shut up," Zuko replied. Jet chuckled in response.

They continued to eat their meals while conversing. They talked about everything from the new tea shop (Zuko: "He wants to name it the Jasmine Dragon." Jet: "Has a nice ring to it.") to Jin (Zuko: "She was pretty and all, but I don't know. She reminded me too much of you." Jet: "Oh, how sweet, you can't get me out of your mind even when you're looking at someone else." Zuko: "Shut up.") to their previously undiscussed talents (Zuko could play a mean Tsungi Horn when he was forced by Uncle Iroh, and Jet was a pretty good cook).

After dinner was over, they went and took a walk around, eventually finding the same fountain that Jin and Zuko had found on their date. Zuko realized that Jet and Jin really _were_ somewhat similar, at least in their choice of date locations. The only difference in the two dates was that this time, the lamps surrounding the fountain were already lit, which meant Zuko wouldn't have to make Jet close his eyes while he lit them and by extension, he wouldn't have to waste any energy lighting the lamps.

They sat on the edge of the fountain. Jet pulled a couple of coins out of his pocket, and held one out to Zuko.

"What's this for?" Zuko asked as he took the coin.

"I heard somewhere that if you toss a coin over your shoulder into a fountain and make a wish, your wish will come true," Jet replied.

"Okay," Zuko said. He reflected on what he would wish for – his honor? His father to love him? Uncle's new tea shop to be successful? Yes, since that one was the most likely, he voiced that wish as he tossed his coin over his shoulder where it landed in the fountain pool.

Jet smiled, and said, "I wish for us to stay together like this." He tossed his coin as well, and smiled when he heard it splash through the water. He then leaned over and kissed Zuko on the lips, and for once (partially because it was getting dark and there was no one around) the Fire Nation prince let him do that.

Because he had made the same wish for happiness that Jet did, in his head.

* * *

Please review, give constructive criticism, etc. as necessary.


	7. Chapter VII

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter VII**

The next day, Jet went off to go help the Avatar's group recover the bison. Zuko assumed that he had been grudgingly accepted into their group, considering he knew the Lower Ring better than they probably did (the flyer said they were based out of an apartment in the Upper Ring). At any rate, Jet had not come home.

That night, Zuko decided that he wanted to investigate the whereabouts of the Avatar's bison. He had worked out a plan of sorts; if he could get the bison, he could do a trade with the Avatar to get him back, and in exchange the Avatar would allow himself to be captured and taken to the Fire Nation where the Fire Lord would deal with his fate accordingly. So when Uncle went out to play Pai Sho with the man who was giving them their new tea shop in the Upper Ring, Zuko donned his old Blue Spirit costume, which was one of the few things he had kept with him since he and Uncle had started travelling the Earth Kingdom, and went on a quest to get some information about the beast.

He figured that the Sky Bison was in the city, but he doubted that any civilians knew where it was, and it would be bad form to just tramp up to the Earth King and ask where he would be able to find a giant flying bison in Ba Sing Se. That left the Dai Li, so Zuko decided to stake out a few of those mysterious soldiers or policemen or whatever the technical term was for the Dai Li's status in the city.

The Dai Li were much more active at night, making their rounds of the Lower Ring. Zuko guessed that they wouldn't want to let any refugees get too rowdy or try to get past their station in life, unless they were people like Uncle who actually worked and attracted the attentions of people outside of the Lower Ring. They tended to float around the alleys and now-closed shops, so it was only a matter of time before one of them went past the old tea shop, which was were Zuko had decided to wait for their approach.

At last, one member of the Dai Li came near the tea shop. Zuko hid himself until the man went down an alley, at which time he took off at a run. He pushed past the Dai Li and said, "Out of my way, skinny." He continued running until the soldier gave chase, at which point he pulled out the Blue Spirit dummy he had sewn up earlier - he was surprisingly good with a needle and thread, when it came down to it - and planted that where he assumed the man would think he was, and waited until the soldier struck.

Once the dummy was disabled, Zuko came down from his perch and, with swords crossed about the Dai Li's neck, hissed, "If you don't want to end up like him, you'll do as I say."

The man tensed. "Wh-wh-who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm the Blue Spirit," Zuko replied. "And I want to know where you're keeping the Avatar's bison."

"How dare you attack me!" the Dai Li cried. "Do you know who I am, what I could do to you? You've just assaulted a civil servant of Ba Sing Se!"

"Yeah," Zuko said nonchalantly. "and you want to know something else? I don't really give a shit. But I'll tell you what – if you don't tell me where the Avatar's bison is," he stroked one blade across the man's cheek, drawing blood, "that's not the only part of you that's going to get cut."

The man gulped. "I'll tell you what you want. The bison's in an underground facility, the Dai Li headquarters."

"What's it called?" Zuko asked.

"Lake Laogai. It's just outside the city limits, you can't miss it. You'll have to get an Earthbender to find the opening to the base, but other than that it's pretty easy to find." The man was trembling visibly. "I've done what you asked."

"So you have," Zuko replied, and he lowered his swords from the man's neck. "And for that, I'll let you live. Get going, before I change my mind." The Dai Li took off, getting out of the alley in mere seconds.

As Zuko caught his reflection in a puddle while returning to the apartment, he realized that as the Blue Spirit, he could go on the rescue mission with the Avatar's gang and Jet. When the Freedom Fighter leader returned to the apartment, he would suggest this idea to him. That way, he would be recognized as his vigilante alter ego, not his princely form. And that was a good thing, because it decreased his chances of getting captured and/or seriously injured by the Avatar's cohorts, particularly the Water Tribe girl, who probably still wanted that rematch from the incident at the North Pole. Hopefully, the Avatar wouldn't recall who he was under the mask, because that would ruin everything. Zuko went back to the tiny apartment, feeling rather pleased with himself.

The next morning, Zuko told Jet of his findings. When asked how he found out, he said that the Blue Spirit told him, and Jet figured out that Zuko was the Blue Spirit when he came over and saw the mask and swords lying by Zuko's bed. Jet passed them along to the Avatar's group, also under the implication that the words came from the Blue Spirit. Jet informed him that the Blue Spirit was invited to join them on their mission to rescue Appa, which was to set to take place this afternoon. Zuko told Uncle that he and Jet were going to hang out around the city for the day, and would probably not be back until later.

Zuko donned the mask and costume for his alter ego, and met Jet in the alley by the old tea shop. The Freedom Fighter leader had brought Smellerbee and Longshot along as well – Jet explained that the Water Tribe boy, Sokka, thought there was a pretty good chance they would have to confront the Dai Li while on their mission, so Jet had recruited his friends to come along – so their party was now up to eight people.

The group from the Lower Ring approached stealthily, mostly running along the rooftops of Ba Sing Se until they reached the edge of the city, where they met the Avatar and his friends. They looked just as they did when Zuko had last seen them in that run down town in the Earth Kingdom.

The Avatar looked at Zuko with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. The prince hoped that the boy wouldn't reveal his secret, which, as previously stated, would be a bad thing for all parties involved. Luckily, the boy appeared to be keeping his silence, and he said, "Can you take us to Appa?"

Zuko nodded – even his speech would give him away – and indicated for the group to follow him. He went to the outskirts of the city, following the vague directions that the Dai Li policeman had given him. But it turned out that they weren't that vague – the lake was, as he had said, right outside of the city. The Earthbender girl revealed the door to the underground facility. They climbed down the ladder to the building, which looked somewhat like a prison.

One of the open doors revealed a flashing light that continually spun in a circle and was rather hypnotic in its movement. Another held a lot of women, who were repeating the things that another Dai Li was saying to them, all with blank looks on their faces. They moved quickly past these rooms, as the things inside them were sort of creepy and Sokka kept getting sucked into the hypnotic rhythms of the things going on in the rooms. Also, Zuko could have sworn he heard footsteps behind them, but that could have just been one of the Dai Li moving around.

Eventually, they reached a division in the building. Zuko was unsure what to do, so he pointed his swords at the two halls that opened up. Jet translated this as, "You guys go this way, I'll go that way."

After some wandering, Zuko finally found a room that he assumed would be large enough to hold a sky bison. And as luck would have it, he was correct in his assumption when a low growl reached his ears. He smirked behind the Blue Spirit mask and said, "Expecting someone else?" He walked into the room and stood just out of the bison's reach. The beast continued to growl and stamped its feet at the intruder.

Suddenly, the door opened behind him. Zuko drew his swords and readied himself to attack. But the person who appeared before him was, to his surprise, "Uncle?"

Iroh, feigning innocence, said, "The Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask."

Zuko sighed and removed his mask. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Uncle replied. "What do you plan to do with the bison? Keep it locked up in our apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?"

"First I have to get it out of here," Zuko said. He hadn't created a clear plan of what he was going to do with the beast once he had gotten it out of the prison. Damn.

Obviously, Uncle had sensed this lack of a plan as well when he shouted, "AND THEN WHAT? You never think these things through! This is exactly the thing that happened to you at the North Pole! You had the Avatar, and you had nowhere to go!"

"I would have figured something out!" Zuko said. "I just needed time!"

"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!" Uncle replied. "You never think this things through!"

"I know my own destiny, Uncle!" Zuko yelled. "I know what I have to do!"

"Is it your own destiny," Iroh inquired, "or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?"

Zuko was starting to get a headache from this talk. "Stop it, Uncle. I have to do this!" He turned toward the bison, as if the beast would provide the answers he was seeking.

"I'm begging you, Zuko!" Uncle pleaded. "It's time for you to look inward, and ask yourself the big questions: Who are you? And what do you want?"

Angrily, Zuko tossed the Blue Spirit mask and his swords to the ground and held his head in his hands. "I don't know!" he cried. Panting, he added, "I just don't know anymore."

"Well, you need to figure that out soon," Uncle said. "There are a lot of people waiting for you to make that decision. I want you to do what feels right, and I'm sure Jet wants to know what you want too."

"Why are you bringing Jet up right now?" Zuko asked tensely.

"I'm not blind, nephew," Uncle replied. "I've seen the way you look at each other. He wants you to be happy, just like I do, and he wants you to love him too."

"I don't know if I can do that," Zuko said. He clung to himself. "I don't want him to get hurt because of who and what I am. And he _hates _the Fire Nation, Uncle! If he finds out where I'm from, I'm sure he'll leave. And I don't know if I can take being alone again. I just can't." He clutched at his head, threading his fingers in his hair. "I don't know anymore. What should I do? Where should I go? Whom should I listen to?"

"I'll let you figure that out," Uncle said, putting a hand on Zuko's shoulder supportively. "But for now, I think you need to decide what to do with the Avatar's bison. Are you going to take it for yourself, or are you going to let it go?"

Zuko gulped. On the one hand, if he kept it, he could use it as a bartering point to gain the Avatar and, by extension, gain the love and respect of his father. But on the other hand, he had come down here to _rescue_ the bison for the Avatar's sake. And he tried to keep his word as often as he could. But still, this was essentially his last chance to get what he had been seeking for so long. How could he pass up a chance like this?

They heard a loud rumbling coming from another one of the rooms. Zuko assumed that Jet and the rest of the group had run into trouble, but this was his task to figure out. His, and his alone.

Zuko came up to the bison and drew one of his swords. The beast roared softly, but Zuko ignored it as he struck at the chains with his sword. This proved somewhat fruitless, but he continued to beat at the chains with his sword. Iroh joined in and kicked at the chains until one of them burst apart. They continued this pattern until the bison was free. Iroh managed to find a key on the wall, which released the manacles from the beast's legs. Iroh then opened the door to the cell, and Zuko led the bison out. Eventually, they reached a tunnel, which appeared to lead straight to the surface.

Now Zuko would have to make his decision. To keep the bison, or to let it go? Would he sacrifice everything he had worked for these last few years to keep a promise that he had made to his sometime enemies? Would he really do that?

He moved away from the bison, and indicated for it to take the tunnel up to the surface. The beast roared happily, and flew up and out the tunnel.

Zuko sighed. "I can't believe I just did that."

Uncle smiled sadly. "I know it must have been tough, but it was the right thing to do, nephew."

There was more rumbling, sounding like it came from the surface. More fighting? Perhaps the sky bison had found its master?

"Let's get out of here," Zuko said. He indicated for Uncle to follow him back to the entrance. They walked in silence; even Zuko's mind, which he had expected to be raging at the decision he had made, was unnaturally quiet.

When they got to the surface, Uncle reaffirmed, "You did the right thing, nephew." He then held the Blue Spirit mask out to Zuko. After a minute of contemplation, Zuko decided to toss the mask into the lake. It was time to let that part of him, that mask he hid behind, fall away and die.

The walk back to their apartment was quiet, although the closer Zuko got to their apartment, the hotter and more exhausted he began to feel. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, leaving another, much heavier one settling in its place.

When they finally reached the door, Zuko was dragging his feet and his swords hung loosely in his hands. It was all he could do to keep his eyes open, and his mind was so foggy. All he wanted to do was sleep now, and do so for a very long time.

Again, Uncle said, "You did the right thing, letting the Avatar's bison go free."

That comment barely registered in Zuko's exhausted brain. He felt his face and found it was even hotter than usual. "I don't feel right," he muttered before his legs gave out under him and his vision faded. He heard Iroh call his name before his world went black.


	8. Chapter VIII

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter VIII**

Jet returned from his adventure with Longshot and Smellerbee in tow, glad that they had been able to do something to actually help someone in this city. Plus, he had patched things up with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, and discovered a new ally in that Toph kid (the first thing he noticed when he heard her name was that the name Toph sounded like the word "tough," which was exactly what she was, possibly even tougher than he was).

The only thing that had worried him about the mission was Lee's disappearance halfway through it. He had just run off at one point, and hadn't been seen since. All he knew was that after they had split up, the Freedom Fighters and the Avatar's group had engaged in a fight with the Dai Li and their shitfaced leader Long Feng, and then Appa had appeared when they got back to the surface. He hoped that Lee had been the one to find and release Appa, which would have been awesome.

When they got back to the apartment, all was quiet. Jet went to his room and hoped to talk to Lee, but he was greeted only by silence. Odd, Lee didn't usually go to bed this early. Perhaps the day's events had exhausted him. At any rate, Jet decided to follow suit and tucked himself into his bed.

When Jet settled in, he was instantly greeted by a dream of darkness. Odd, he didn't usually dream about darkness. This was new.

A flickering light appeared in the distance. Jet ran to it, but it seemed to get farther and farther away, no matter how close he got to it. He could hear labored breathing, but it didn't sound quite like his. If anything, it sounded like Lee's.

Eventually, he got close to the light, and found that it was not just a light, but also a person, a young man, curled onto his side. This person was pale, almost too pale. The flickering light he had seen before was pulsing on this person's skin, quickly, and the boy seemed to be in pain. Jet knelt beside the person and turned him onto his side, only to find himself looking at Lee. And Lee looked awful. Something was very wrong here.

"Lee, what's going on?" he asked, stroking his lover's face. "What happened? Why are you like this? What can I do?"

The dream-Lee reached for Jet's face and gasped out, "Help me," before slumping over in Jet's arms. The boy began to fade away within seconds, followed by a lightning blast that completely extinguished Lee and struck Jet in the chest.

Jet awoke, panting as if he had run a marathon. Something was definitely wrong with Lee. He wasn't quite sure if his dream had been true, but he knew that there was at least something wrong with the boy he had grown to love in the last few weeks. He tugged on a shirt and pants, and rushed out the apartment door. He hoped that he wasn't too late to help, even the tiniest bit.

He knocked on the door of Lee and Mushi's apartment. _Please be okay. Please be okay, Lee, _he thought. _Please don't die. _

Mushi answered the door slowly. "What is it, Jet?" he asked.

"Is Lee alright?" Jet said frantically. "Don't let him be dead. Please, tell me he's not dead."

"How did you know my nephew was ill?" Mushi inquired.

"I had a dream about him," Jet replied. "I woke up with a bad feeling that he was in danger. He's sick, then?"

"Yes," Mushi said. "He has an intense fever, and can't be moved right now."

Jet sighed. At least Lee wasn't dead. That was good. But it wasn't good that he was sick, at the same time. "What can I do to help?" Jet asked. "Is there anything I can do?"

"He's sleeping now, but I'll need you to watch him when I go and get some medicine for him in the morning," Mushi replied. "Although I don't doubt he would appreciate your presence right now." Jet nodded, and Mushi continued, "If you like, you can sit up with me and watch over him. I was just about to make myself a cup of tea, and you look like you could use one too. You're trembling, Jet."

Jet hadn't even noticed that he was trembling until Mushi had told him. Looking down at his hands, he discovered that the elder man was correct: they were shaking, almost unnoticeable, but still there. _Wow_, he thought, _that dream really must have shaken me up. Maybe some tea would help me calm down. And seeing Lee would help, too._ He entered the apartment – quietly, so he wouldn't wake Lee from his troubled sleep (this was probably the case, Jet mused, because he hadn't met anyone that didn't have a difficult time sleeping when he or she was sick).

"Chamomile?" Mushi offered, holding up a container of that particular kind of tea. "It helps one relax."

Jet nodded, and poured hot water over the tea leaves into the teapot. Mushi grabbed a pair of tea cups, and Jet followed with the pot to Lee's room.

Jet's dream had not been a figment of his imagination: Lee was definitely sick. The teen was covered up to his chin, but Jet could see that his chest was bare under the blankets. His skin – which had a deathly pallor to it, even whiter than it usually was, with a slight yellow-green tint to it as well – was covered in sweat, and his eyes were closed tightly, which made Jet infer that Lee was having a nightmare. He turned over a few times, in a vain attempt to get more comfortable, but settled for the position he had previously been in. Mushi settled on one side of the boy, and Jet took the other. The old man gently rubbed a wet cloth on Lee's forehead to wipe away some of the sweat that was coating it.

Jet didn't like this. He didn't like seeing Lee in pain, especially when confronting such an enemy as the mind. He just hoped that his lover would be able to come out of this alive, because there was nothing that Jet could do to help. And Jet hated feeling helpless like this, unable to do anything.

"I know this may seem a little forward of me," Mushi said while he poured the tea and passed one cup to Jet, "but I am very glad that you and my nephew have become friends. Or rather, more than friends."

Jet flushed. "Thank you, but I don't know if –"

"Jet," Mushi said meaningfully. "I know my nephew better than anyone. I haven't seen him this happy since he was very small, so it's a very good thing that you found each other. I give you my blessing to do as you please in your relationship. However," the old man took a sip of his tea, "if you hurt my nephew in any way, shape, or form, I will show you no mercy. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," Jet replied, getting the meaning of Mushi's words clearly. "Th-thank you, sir."

Lee moaned, and his eyes fluttered open. They were heavily clouded. "Uncle? What's going on? I thought –" his words gave way to a series of harsh coughs. Jet reached out to support him and, once the coughing fit ceased, guided him back down to the bed. At this point, Lee noticed that Jet was in the room. "Jet? What're you doing here?"

"I had a bad dream," Jet explained. "Your uncle invited me in. And I wanted to see you, Lee."

Lee grimaced. "You didn't have to come here." He coughed again and buried himself in his blankets.

"I know," Jet replied as he stroked Lee's hair and tried to get it away from his forehead. "I did it because I care about you."

Lee tried to smile, but his eyes drifted shut and he was lost to the world again.

"What's wrong with him?" Jet asked.

"A decision he made has come back to haunt him and is having serious repercussions," Mushi explained. "His mind and his body are now at war, and as a result, he has developed this intense fever. I do not doubt that he is also having strange, but very symbolic dreams at this point."

"Dreams?" Jet asked. "Like the one I had?"

Mushi shrugged. "Perhaps. My nephew has never really been one to dream much, but when he does have them they tend to be very important and connected to what is going on in his life."

"Does he usually tell you about these dreams?" Jet inquired.

"Typically," Mushi replied. "He usually doesn't tell me until the next day, so we may have to wait a while for him to tell us of these dreams, if he decides to tell us at all."

"Us? What do you mean, us?" Jet was confused. Why would Lee tell him about his dreams?

"As far as I can see, my nephew trusts you." Mushi smiled. "And he is very slow to develop trust with another person. You should be honored, Jet."

Jet smiled, and let the soothing scent of the chamomile tea wash over him. He and Mushi stayed up and talked for most of the night, tending to Lee when appropriate, until finally Jet closed his eyes and settled against the wall in a light sleep.

A few hours later (to Jet it had felt more like a few minutes since he had fallen asleep), Mushi shook him awake. Jet rubbed the sleep from his eyes and asked, "What's going on?"

"I need to go get some medicine for my nephew," Mushi replied. "Can you watch him while I'm gone?"

Jet nodded, and settled himself beside Lee. "I'll be here," he said. "Take as long as you need."

Mushi smiled softly, and went out the door to go run his errands.

Jet smiled sadly at Lee, and brushed the boy's bangs back from his head. "I'm so sorry, Lee," he said. "I can't do anything to help you."

Lee moaned, "So cold." He tried to pull the blankets up higher, but they were already as high as they could go and wrapped tightly around his lithe form. "Need…warmth."

Jet wasn't sure why Lee wanted to be warmer. He was burning up, and Jet wasn't sure if making him warmer would be the best thing for him. Then again, he had also heard that sometimes you have to sweat a fever out to get rid of it.

"Need…you," Lee mumbled.

That clinched it. When someone said they needed Jet, then Jet would do whatever he could to get to that person. So he gently pulled the blankets away from Lee and slid beside him on the bed. He spooned up against Lee so the boy was pulled up against him, and his arms were loosely wrapped around his torso from behind.

Lee's breathing was uneven, almost broken-sounding. Just listening to it was enough to make Jet want to hold his lover close for as long as he could. He wanted to keep everything away, every hurt, every bad thought, every lingering feeling of negativity – he wanted all of it to be taken away from Lee.

The boy shifted in his arms, sliding up closer to Jet than he had thought was possible. His skin still felt warm to the touch, and Jet hoped – as superficial and self-absorbed as it was – that this illness was not contagious, because he really did not want to get sick.

"Need you," Lee mumbled again. His eyes were ever so slightly open, just enough to let Jet see the clouded gold of his irises.

"I'm right here, Lee," Jet replied, tightening his embrace around the boy.

"Need you…in me," Lee said.

In him? What did he mean by that? Jet considered what Lee meant, and when he came to the appropriate, if somewhat perverse, conclusion, he turned bright red. "A-a-are you sure, Lee?" Jet asked tentatively. He didn't want to take advantage of Lee in his already vulnerable state, and this action, if done without consent from a sound mind and body, could fall under the category of "taking advantage of a person."

"Yes," Lee replied. "Want to feel you…inside of me."

Jet gulped. If he did this, there was no going back. He and Lee would really be…lovers from this moment on. "If it's really what you want," Jet said, "I'll do it. But I need your permission."

"Please do it," Lee moaned. He shifted, and began trying to take Jet's shirt off, which Jet interpreted as the signal to begin making love to Lee.

"All right, Lee," Jet replied. "If it's what you want." He felt the teen nod against his chest, and he started kissing him in response. Softly, gently, because he didn't want to break Lee when he was in this fragile state, and if he pushed too far, it could be the end of everything.

While he was kissing him, Lee was busying himself trying to get his pants undone. This proved harder than he had anticipated, so he settled for having them half on and began kneading at Jet's chest. Jet took this as a signal to finish undoing the pants, which he did. He discovered upon removing said garments that Lee was already rock hard, so he wouldn't have to do much to get him to climax. Meanwhile, he let Lee continue to knead his chest, particularly around his nipples, resulting in his own erection.

Before he did anything, though, he slid out of the bed, much to Lee's displeasure. "Where're you going?" the invalid teen moaned.

Jet fumbled around in Lee's underwear until he found what he had been looking for – a sheath for his dick. He was pretty sure that they were called condoms too – either way, it was what he needed, because he didn't want to risk Lee getting even sicker if they had unprotected sex. He also procured a bottle of lubricant that Lee had hidden away. He slid the condom onto his member easily and then came back over to the bed.

"Can you turn over?" he asked Lee. The other boy complied, flipping himself onto his stomach (although the process was a bit slow because Lee's arms were a bit shaky and he almost fell over twice while trying to turn). He turned his head to the side and rested it in the crook of his arms.

Jet slowly peeled the blankets off of Lee – he didn't want him to get a cold flash and risk ruining the moment completely – and then gently slid on top of him. He perched himself at Lee's entrance and grabbed the bottle of lubricant and squeezed some onto his fingers. Once they were properly lubricated, he slowly slid one into Lee's hole and began feeling around inside, stretching the boy out. One finger became two, then three. Lee moaned at the contact, but then relaxed once Jet started moving around and opening him up. He seemed to enjoy it when Jet scissored his fingers inside him, judging from the lusty moans coming from his mouth.

After a few minutes of using his fingers, Jet then positioned himself to enter Lee fully. He spread a little of the lubricant on his dick, to make it a little easier on his lover, and balanced himself on one hand. He then began to move into Lee, slowly and gently (again, Lee was in a very fragile state of mind and body and going too fast with anything, especially sex, could be very bad at this point), sliding in inch by inch until at last he was completely inside. The boy under him writhed in agony and pleasure, a combination that was both wonderful and terrible at the same time. Jet attempted to soothe him, laying small kisses between his shoulder blades and ghosting his fingers over the small of Lee's back. Then, with one hand, he started to move Lee's dick with his hand while thrusting inside him.

"How is it?" Jet asked.

Lee moaned as Jet's dick rubbed against his prostate. "More," he said. "Do more. Feels _so_ good."

Jet smiled. At least Lee was able to enjoy himself. He grunted, and began thrusting harder. Lee was so tight, it almost hurt to do this. But it was what he wanted, and Jet wanted only to make Lee happy right now, at any cost to himself.

At last, Jet could feel himself coming. He tried to warn Lee, but the moment the words started, his fluids began to spurt inside Lee's hole. His whole body rocked and he felt as if his muscles were rippling, like his body was made of earth and a whole bunch of Earthbenders had just sent a wave of the stuff going across him. Lee reacted similarly, coming in Jet's hand in spurts. They lay panting on the thin mattress, side by side.

If Lee had been hot before, then he was probably on fire now. His skin was covered in sweat and bodily fluid, and his breathing seemed to have gotten even shallower than it was before they started their carnal act.

But Jet had to ask the all-important question: "Was it good for you?"

Lee barely nodded before falling asleep once again. "Thank…you," he mumbled.

Good. That was what Jet had hoped would happen. The sex was good for him too. It had been far too long since he had done that going all the way, and it had felt amazing. If he and Lee were to die in the next few days, at least they would have this to remember. And that was what Jet had hoped for – something wonderful with his lover.

Yes, they were definitely lovers now. Hopefully Lee would see it that way too, and hopefully after his fever was done they would continue to be involved in things like this more often. That would be lovely, and Jet was pretty sure that Lee would agree.

Jet peeled the condom off of his dick and tossed it in the garbage receptacle located by the bed, and then went to refill the bucket of water. He then set about cleaning himself and Lee, making sure not to leave any traces of the white fluids on their bodies. He also wiped Lee down, hoping to bring down that fever even a little bit. Once everything was clean, he settled beside the bed and coaxed Lee's mouth open to pour a little water in. He massaged his throat to get it down, and repeated the process for a few more mouthfuls. He then drank a little water himself – he was parched from the heat of the day and from the sex – and sighed with pleasure.

When Mushi returned, he looked Lee over, and then gave Jet a knowing smile. Confused, the Freedom Fighter leader asked, "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Mushi replied. "In fact, you may have helped him start to recover. His breathing's deeper now, look." The old man was right – Lee's chest was rising and falling just a little more regularly, and definitely slower than it was before. Jet smiled at the fact that he had been the indirect reason for that little bit of improvement in the teen's condition.

Mushi continued, "Thank you, Jet. You are welcome to continue checking on my nephew until his sickness ends. I will let you know if it does not improve."

"I love him," Jet replied dazedly as he stepped out the door.

"I know," Mushi said, and closed the door.

Jet really meant what he said. He did love Lee.


	9. Chapter IX

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**C****hapter IX**

Over the next few days, Jet continued to come check up on Zuko and, when Uncle Iroh went out to run errands or whatever, he would stay and snuggle with Zuko or, per request, engage in carnal acts with him. By the end of the week, Jet had pretty much moved into Zuko and Iroh's apartment completely, only going back to his to change clothes or let Smellerbee and Longshot know what was going on and give them food.

Zuko's condition improved continuously. He wasn't as shaky or hot, but he still felt feverish at times, and continued to have very strange dreams. Interestingly enough, though, when Jet had started to snuggle with him, the dreams became considerably less frequent and he usually only had one a day now. But it had been a week, and he was tired of being tired and helpless.

At last, he felt himself waking up. He opened his eyes, disentangled himself from Jet's arms, and walked feebly to the bathroom (how long had it been since he had walked of his own accord? It felt like ages, his legs were so shaky).

He washed his face of the last vestiges of sweat, and blearily looked into the mirror. When things came into focus, however, he saw that his eyes were now grey, his hair and scar were gone, and on his forehead was a sky blue arrow tattoo. He screamed, jumped back from the mirror, and squeezed his eyes shut. Why had this happened? _How_ had it happened?

He felt himself falling, and the world seemed to melt…

And then he really woke up, shooting off of the mattress with a panicked shout. Gingerly, he touched the left side of his face, and found, to his mixed horror and pleasure, the scar on his eye that marked him as the banished Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, and the true heir to the throne. And for once, he was glad to bear that mark, because it meant that he was who he was.

And regardless of what he had done, whoever he had claimed to be, when it came down to the basics, he was still Zuko, and would always be Zuko. At his core, he was a Firebender; a pure one, not sick and twisted like his sister. He never lied unless it was necessary. He tried to take joy out of the things he was supposed to take joy out of in life. He believed in honor and righteousness.

And he loved. He loved Uncle Iroh as his uncle and also as his mentor, his role model, and his surrogate father figure. He loved his mother as his mother and his protector, the one to tell him to keep fighting and never forget who he was. And now, he found that he loved Jet as his comrade, his teammate, and his lover.

Yes, Zuko was in love with Jet. He realized that he truly was. Why else would he have been dreaming about him? He never dreamed about anyone he didn't care about (except for Azula, but that was probably because he subconsciously still thought of her as his little sister who needed looking after; the other reason he probably still dreamt about her is that he may a big, important confrontation with her at some point in the future that will determine the rest of their lives).

Speaking of Jet, said teen opened his eyes and groggily asked, "Lee? What's going on? You okay?"

That's right. Jet had been here the whole time, helping Uncle take care of him and make sure he got through this crisis. And that was no easy feat. Zuko had to do something to repay his kindness. It was time to give Jet a little truth, tell him a little secret that he had been bottling up for a while.

Zuko leaned down and kissed Jet chastely on the lips. "I love you, Jet. Thank you for everything."

"That's good, that's good," Jet said blearily. He sat up, raised his arms to the sky, and then it was as if a platypus-bear had smacked him in the face with its tail. His eyes popped open and his jaw dropped a little. "Wait, what did you say?"

"I love you, Jet," Zuko repeated.

"Wow," Jet replied. "Um, wow."

"Are you really that surprised?" Zuko asked, laughing nervously. Was this wrong? Had he said something he shouldn't have?

"No, it's just…wow, Lee," Jet said. "I've been wanting to tell you all this time that I love you – "

"And I couldn't find the time to say it without being awkward," Zuko added.

"So I'm just a little bit surprised that you came right out and said it like that," Jet finished.

"Yeah," Zuko replied. "I just feel so much…lighter, you know? Like a weight's been lifted from my shoulders." He smiled. "And I know I have you to thank for it."

"Me? Why?" Jet asked. "Your uncle took care of you more than I did. He bathed you and stuff like that. I didn't do shit."

"Yes, but he didn't sleep with me and keep me warm when I felt cold," Zuko replied. "And he certainly didn't do what you did to me. That day, you know the one."

Jet flushed. "Right, because that would be just awkward if he did."

Zuko chuckled. Jet gaped at him.

"What in the name of the spirit world happened to you?" Jet asked. He put a hand to Zuko's forehead, only to find that it was at a normal temperature. "You're still not sick, are you?"

"No." Zuko raised his arms to the ceiling and stretched. "Actually, I haven't felt this good in a really long time."

At that moment, Uncle Iroh decided to make his entrance. He was carrying three steaming cups of tea and a pot of more tea, which Zuko suspected was either jasmine or mint or some other kind of soothing tea. "So you're awake, nephew!" he said joyfully. "How do you feel?" He knelt and put a hand to Zuko's forehead. "Your fever's gone, so that's a good thing."

"Yeah," Zuko replied. "I feel…great." He smiled. "I feel really great, Uncle." He reached up and hugged his uncle around the shoulders. Iroh was shocked at first, and then returned the favor with a warm smile and folded Zuko into his arms.

"I'm very glad, nephew," Iroh said. "And now that you're all better, it's time to pack up."

"Pack up?" Zuko asked. "What for?"

"We're moving into our new apartment the day after tomorrow!" Iroh announced. "And then we have to go open the tea shop next week!"

"So _that's_ what you were doing while we were sleeping," Jet mused.

Uncle nodded at Jet. "Longshot and Smellerbee have also packed up and are ready to go as soon as you two are."

"We can come?" Jet asked. "Really?"

"Of course," Iroh replied. "I'm going to need all of the help I can get at the tea shop, and the apartment is much too big for just Lee and me. They put in one too many bedrooms."

"I'll come, and I'm sure Longshot and Smellerbee would love to," Jet said. He turned to Zuko. "That is, if it's all right with you."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. Did Jet really doubt him at this point? After he had just declared his love for him? Really? He waited for Jet to start laughing or something, but his expression of humility and submissiveness didn't change. Wow, that was a first. Usually Jet just took control of a situation, but now he was letting Zuko take the ropes.

When Jet's expression still didn't change, Zuko sighed exasperatedly, tackled him, and kissed him squarely on the lips. "Does that answer your question?" Zuko asked. "Of course I want you to come with us! I just told you that I love you! I'm not ready to let you go yet! Jet, you and your friends are definitely coming with us!"

Iroh chuckled. "You're so emphatic about this, nephew. I haven't seen you show this much emotion in weeks."

Zuko flushed, and quietly replied, "Well, I really want him to stay."

"In that case," Uncle said, "we'd better get packed up. Can you walk, nephew?"

Zuko pushed back the blankets from his legs (thank Agni he had had the presence of mind to keep his pants on while he was sleeping). He planted his feet in front of him and his hands at his sides, and tried to push himself up with his own power. Unfortunately, this first attempt wasn't that successful. So instead of using the floor as a starting point, he put one hand on Jet's shoulder and pushed up with that. He got to a standing position, and took one shaky step forward. He almost fell, but Iroh and Jet caught him before he got even close to the floor. He smiled at them gratefully, and began to walk to the bathroom. Slowly, but surely, he made it there in one piece, with a few more new falls along the way.

He washed his face in the basin that was in front of the mirror. He looked at his reflection, and for once he was fine with what he saw. Here he was, alive and whole, with two of the people he loved most in this world beside him.


	10. Chapter X

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter X**

The next week arrived. After trekking from their dingy apartments in the Lower Ring to their new, enormous abode in the Upper Ring, Zuko, Iroh, Longshot, Smellerbee, and Jet had all settled into their new lifestyle. The move had been fairly painless – it helped that all they really had left to pack up was Zuko's stuff, and some other things that Iroh had forgotten to pack when he had been going back and forth between the apartments when Zuko was sick – and was accomplished rather quickly, partially due to the small army of servants that their nobleman patron (who Iroh told Zuko was called Quon) had lent to help them get everything straightened out. They were provided with new clothes befitting their new social status, and were almost immediately welcomed into the community of people in their neighborhood.

As for the rooming situation, Iroh had his own room, Jet and Zuko shared a room down the hall, and Longshot and Smellerbee had the last bedroom. There was a large bathroom, and the kitchen doubled as a large common area with a low table and cushions for meals and the like.

They were all working to get the Jasmine Dragon ready for its grand opening.

Zuko himself was much happier now than he had been in a long time. He was publicly affectionate with Jet - pecking him on the cheek when one of them had to run errands or just for the pleasure of it, rubbing his shoulders on breaks during the setup for the tea shop, that sort of thing - and he willingly helped out Uncle Iroh when he was asked to do so. He even played the Tsungi Horn one night for his roommates' entertainment, although how it had gotten into their apartment he was not sure, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Uncle was behind it. Things were definitely going well for Zuko these days.

One night, as he and Jet were sleeping, a voice came to Zuko in his dream. It kept repeating the same phrase over and over again, each time getting louder.

"Help me." The voice sounded female at first, but as it got louder it diverged into two voices, then three. Two male, one of which sounded younger than the other, and one female. The voices continued to get louder, and in his dream Zuko walked toward where he thought the voices were coming from.

At last, Zuko reached three columns. Each one had chains running across the back of it, and he could see three pairs of hands protruding from the chains. He ran towards the columns, and saw that Jet, Uncle Iroh, and his mother were chained to the columns. They all visibly brightened at his presence, but the only words they could say were "Help me" again and again.

"Help you with what?" Zuko asked. He came up to his mother and started to fiddle with the chains, thinking that must be the source of their discomfort. But to his surprise, when he unlocked the chain on one hand, it locked itself again. He repeated the process, and got the same result.

Suddenly, a new sound greeted his ears – laughter. At first, it sounded almost joyful, but as it increased in volume, it started to sound twisted, almost insane. Zuko tried to find the source of the laughter, but nothing.

Storm clouds appeared above them, and thunder began to boom from within the clouds. Appropriately, lightning accompanied the thunder. And Zuko, having dreamed about lightning before, realized that this dream storm could mean only one person was coming.

Azula.

As if thinking of her caused her to exist, his sister Azula appeared before him, cackling madly. "Found you!" she screeched, and proceeded to ready herself to shoot out lightning. Zuko tried to remember how to redirect lightning, but the thoughts escaped him. All he could think about was how to protect his mother, uncle, and lover from this menace that was supposed to be his sister.

But it was too late. Azula struck, first Uncle, then Mother, then Jet. He was able to catch Jet in his arms, and just before Jet's heart gave out, he whispered to Zuko, "I love you, no matter what." And then he faded away, just as Iroh and Ursa had mere seconds before.

Alone and unable to defend himself, Zuko backed up against the nearest column. But before he could do anything, Azula struck him down, and he was falling, falling, falling, through fire and water, unable to stop until…

He jolted awake, his heart pounding in his chest. What had that dream meant? Surely Azula wouldn't be coming to Ba Sing Se, she'd get thrown out of here as soon as she set foot on the outer wall. Then again, this was Azula he was thinking about; she wasn't a Firebending prodigy for nothing, and she had Mai and Ty Lee with her, and together those three were a threat to any establishment.

Jet shifted, opened his eyes, and groggily said, "Lee, what is it? You okay?"

"It's nothing," Zuko lied. He wouldn't want Jet to worry about him, especially since his lover had spent the past week watching him lie helplessly in bed while he struggled with his personal demons. "Let's go back to sleep."

Jet nodded, and opened his arms to let Zuko in. The prince gratefully slid into his lover's embrace, glad that he could find comfort here. They both fell asleep again in seconds.

The next morning, Zuko debated on telling Uncle Iroh about the dream with Azula, but thought better of it. Today was the grand opening of the Jasmine Dragon, and he didn't want to upset Uncle in his moment of absolute happiness.

Zuko showered, got dressed, ate a bowl of jook for breakfast, and then got ready to head off to the tea shop once Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, and Uncle were all set. Today was going to be a good day. Zuko could feel it.

And he was right. A great multitude of people arrived in the shop, most of them from the Upper Ring, but some classier folks from the Middle Ring came as well. Business was booming, and this was only their first day!

After serving close to one hundred and fifty pots of tea that day, it was finally time to close the shop. Longshot and Smellerbee, along with the greeting girls, had taken on dishwashing duty, while Zuko and Jet were sweeping up and Iroh was taking a well-deserved break.

A messenger came to the door, bearing a scroll that he said was from the royal palace. Uncle accepted it, and read the message. As his eyes traveled down the length of the scroll, they got bigger and more excited-looking. At length, he said, "I can't believe it."

Zuko came up to him. "What is it, Uncle?"

"We have been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!" Iroh ran to the kitchen to spread the good news to the rest of the staff.

"Already?" Jet said from behind Zuko. "Seems a bit quick if you ask me."

"Word travels fast here," Zuko replied. "We were in the city for barely a week and already Uncle was attracting people from the Upper Ring to try his tea at Pao's. And besides, look how happy he was about it. Nothing makes Uncle happier than serving tea."

"Yes," Jet said, "that's true. All I'm saying, though, is that you should be careful. I don't think it's entirely normal for the Earth King to ask for tea from a tea shop that only just opened today."

Zuko sighed. "Do you want to come with us and be our 'protection?' Would that make you feel better?"

"Yes," Jet replied. He reached around and loosely wrapped Zuko in his arms while nuzzling at his neck. "Because I would hate for you to get hurt."

Zuko blushed. "I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."

"Did you see the way you tried to walk last week? That was ridiculous," Jet chuckled. "You looked like a newborn pygmy poodle."

"I had just gotten over being sick!" Zuko replied. "Would you have been stable walking the first time after that?"

"Probably," Jet said as he moved on to stroking Zuko's cheek with his thumb.

"Shut up," Zuko grumbled.

"You're so cute when you get flustered," Jet said as he started nibbling at Zuko's good ear. But before they could get any further, Iroh, Longshot, and Smellerbee arrived, which meant it was time to go back to the apartment and get ready for the next day.

In the morning, Uncle Iroh sent Longshot and Smellerbee to the shop to say that it would be temporarily closed until he, Zuko, and Jet returned from serving tea to the Earth King. They did so, and then were allowed to return to the apartment and sleep.

The three travelers went to the palace, where they were directed to a small house on the grounds. They were given very delicate, expensive-looking china to serve the tea in, and they did so. They then waited for the Earth King to appear.

After about thirty minutes, the ruler of Ba Sing Se had yet to appear. Surely it wouldn't take this long to get to such a small audience.

"What's taking so long?" Zuko asked.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept," Iroh offered in response. Jet shrugged.

Suddenly, several Dai Li agents appeared and formed a circle around the tea servers. They looked dangerous, as usual. Still no sign of the Earth King, however.

"Something's not right here," Jet commented. Zuko nodded, and tensed.

Suddenly, the girl who had haunted his dreams appeared before him. Azula, dressed in Earth Kingdom garb that looked stolen, stood behind the circle of Dai Li agents and mockingly said, "It's tea time."

Enraged, Zuko stood and asked, "What are you doing here?"

She ignored him and said, "Have you met the Dai Li? They're Earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that is _so_ Firebender. I just _love_ it!" She giggled chillingly.

"Why is she talking about Firebenders?" Jet asked Zuko, who said nothing.

Iroh took the cup of tea he poured and stood up beside Zuko. "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname, the 'Dragon of the West?'"

Azula looked nonchalantly at her nails. "I'm not interested in one of your stories, Uncle."

"It's more of a demonstration, really," Uncle replied. He sipped at the tea and then, taking a traditional Firebending stance, breathed a large amount of fire at the Dai Li, who shielded themselves with their gloved hands. This gave Zuko, Iroh, and Jet the opportunity to run.

"You're Firebenders?" Jet asked tensely. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I'll explain later," Zuko replied, "but right now, let's just focus on getting out of here." He knew this day would come, but could it not have been because of Azula?

Iroh and Zuko blasted a hole in the wall at the end of the house. Jet jumped down first, followed by Iroh. Zuko should have followed, but instead, he decided to face Azula. It was time to end this chase once and for all, and there was only one way to do it. Agni Kai.

Unfortunately, since Azula was such an annoying brat and general prodigy, she turned down his challenge and left him to the Dai Li. In minutes, he was captured and bound, and then taken to the courtyard of the palace. From there, a hole opened in the ground, and Zuko was sent down the corresponding tunnel.

Unfortunately, he was not the only one under the tunnel. Katara was there, and she did not look too pleased to see Zuko.

This day just kept getting worse.


	11. Chapter XI

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter XI**

Jet and Mushi ran back to the apartment as fast as they could. Jet told Longshot and Smellerbee what had happened – at least, as much as he could figure out had happened.

After discussing things with his cohorts, he cornered Mushi. "You have some explaining to do," he said.

"I know," Mushi sighed. "My nephew and I both knew that this day would come. But I suppose now is as good a time as any."

Jet rubbed at his temples. "Just start with your names. Who are you, really?"

"I am General Iroh of the Fire Nation, brother to Fire Lord Ozai," Mushi – now Iroh – explained. "My nephew, who you knew as Lee, is truly Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, son of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Ursa and heir to the throne."

_The _General Iroh? And Prince Zuko? Great, he just had to get involved with fucking royalty! "And you are Firebenders? Both of you?"

"Yes," Iroh replied.

Jet could have strangled the man right then, he really could have. "And that girl, Azula? What is she to you two?"

"Princess Azula is my niece, Prince Zuko's sister," Iroh said. "She is a Firebending prodigy, and I highly doubt that Zuko has defeated her. She has always been much stronger than him, ever since they were children."

"So you two are royalty," Jet said slowly. "Then why in the world were you two on the run?"

Iroh paused, and then began, "Because my brother believes that Prince Zuko and I are failures and traitors to the Fire Nation. He sent Princess Azula after us to capture us and likely kill us."

"I can't believe this," Jet said. "I really can't believe this. Why the FUCK are you here?"

"Because we are refugees. Because we are victims of this war. Just like you." Iroh looked at him sternly.

"Don't say that! You are nothing like me! You and that – that Zuko have been eating out of silver spoons your entire life! You've never had to struggle! What the fuck would you know about being refugees?" Jet was panting heavily now.

"Try to understand," Iroh said, "Prince Zuko was exiled from his homeland by his own father for doing something he believed was right. He's had to prove himself all his life, and still his father won't accept him for the prince that he is. He's had next to nothing for the last three years, and I'm his only real companion. My nephew is not his father. He is not the cause of this war."

Jet paused, unsure of what to say. Part of him understood that Lee – damn it, no, it was Zuko now! PRINCE FUCKING ZUKO! – struggled and fought to get where he was now, and he respected and loved him for that. But another part of him wanted to kill Iroh right now and do the same to Zuko when he got the chance.

At length, he sighed, and said, "I still don't trust you. But I'll help you rescue your nephew. Let me just take care of a few things first."

He went back to Longshot and Smellerbee's room. "Guys, I need to tell you something."

"We heard, Jet," Smellerbee said. "We heard it all. The Fire Nation! Right here, in our own apartment! How could we not have known?"

"I don't know," Jet replied. "I just don't know anymore. But I want you guys to get out of here. And get as many refugees as you can out of here. Ba Sing Se isn't safe anymore."

"But where do we go?" Longshot asked.

"I don't know," Jet said. "Somewhere far away. You'll be able to find help somewhere."

"What are you going to do, Jet?" Smellerbee asked.

"I'm going to go rescue Prince Zuko," Jet replied. "I don't know what's gonna happen after that, but it's not gonna be pretty."

Longshot put a hand on Jet's shoulder. "We're staying."

"No!" Jet cried. "No! You guys have to get out of here! You can't stay! I won't let you get hurt!" He hugged himself. "I can't let you get hurt." And to his surprise, he felt tears falling from his eyes. "Please, just go. Take as many refugees as you can with you."

The Freedom Fighters pulled together in a hug, knowing that this could be the last time they saw each other.

"I know you'll beat 'em, Jet," Smellerbee said. "You can do it."

"I'll try, 'Bee, I'll try," Jet replied, using her old nickname. "I'll try." He sent them away, hoping against hope that they could at least get out of the city.

Jet went to his and Zuko's room. The rumpled bedding looked so inviting, so warm and loving, so…wrong, now. He threw the blankets out the window, stripped the sheets and tore them in half, and kicked open the pillows, sending goose feathers flying across the room. He panted heavily, and then sank to the floor, clutching his head in his hands.

A _Firebender_. He had sex, multiple times, with a spirit-damned _Firebender_. He wanted to castrate himself and give up sex entirely, he felt so dirty. He was crying hot tears because he had fallen in love with a fucking _Firebender_. This couldn't get any worse, could it?

He wiped his eyes and grabbed his hook swords. He was going to go with Iroh and try to help in whatever way he could. As long as he could get Zuko back and then do what he wanted with him, things would be all right.

Things _had_ to be all right now. He couldn't take any more insanity. He was at the edges of his mind already, and the knots that bound him together were beginning to fray into little red strings that could snap at a moment's notice. The strings would be fine if everything was all right, if Zuko wasn't in danger, if the world went back to how it was yesterday.

Of course, things were not all right. After locating the Avatar's group in the Upper Ring, Jet had gone with Sokka and Toph to warn the Earth King of what was going on, but they were too late. The coup that that Azula bitch had been planning was already in progress, and when they had gotten to the Earth King's throne room, Azula and her friends captured them. Luckily, Toph was able to get them out of their dungeon room, thanks to her recently discovered skills at Metalbending, and they got out of there with the Earth King and his pet bear. Sokka and Toph led the Earth King to go get Appa so they could fly out of there as soon as possible.

Jet, meanwhile, had taken off for the catacombs to go help win the battle and get Zuko back. Hopefully, things were still fine down there.

Of course, they weren't. Firstly, Katara and Aang were fighting Azula and her Dai Li agents. That was bad, because not only was Azula a formidable opponent, but also with the Dai Li she was practically unstoppable. Not good.

Secondly, Zuko did not need rescuing, because he had decided that loyalty to his nation was more important than individual people and he was now FIGHTING ALONGSIDE AZULA. Yes, that was what Jet saw, and he was not too pleased with it. He jumped into the fray and started going all out against the Dai Li in a vain attempt to get to Zuko and kick his ass, but the Dai Li just kept coming at him. It was as if you split one and two more appeared in the first's place. Katara was having enough trouble with the Dai Li, judging from the speed at which she was manipulating the tentacles of her water octopus form.

Suddenly, a flash of light came from the other side of the battle, over by Zuko and Azula. The light was gentle, but very fierce-looking as well. Jet wondered what it was, and whether it was good or bad.

With a crash, Aang appeared in the light, which had now become a column. And judging from the glow of his eyes and tattoos, he had just gotten a giant power boost or something like that. It was both beautiful and terrible to behold.

And just like that, it ended. Azula blasted him with lightning in the back, and Aang fell, unconscious. Katara rushed over to him, and Zuko and Azula looked about ready to squash her as well, but then Iroh appeared and fought back. Jet joined him, fighting until the kids were out of the catacombs. At that point, Iroh stopped, and the Dai Li encased him and Jet in crystal up their necks. Iroh glared at Zuko knowingly, and then looked away. Jet couldn't bring himself to look at Zuko either, for fear he would start crying again at this betrayal.

The next few weeks were a blur. The Fire Nation invaded Ba Sing Se. Iroh, Jet, and various other enemies of the state were imprisoned in the penitentiary near the palace. After that, they were put on a ship with the Fire Nation brats to go back to their homeland and be put in a prison there. Zuko tried to come talk to Jet and Iroh, but they both refused to speak to him. Jet wasn't sure why the old man wasn't speaking to his nephew, but Jet knew why _he_ wasn't speaking to Zuko.

He didn't want to talk to the person who had stolen his heart and then ripped it into shreds.


	12. Chapter XII

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter XII**

The extended aftermath of the battle in the crystal catacombs was something of a blur to Zuko.

Prince Zuko was a mess. He wanted so badly to talk to Jet and Uncle Iroh, to tell them how sorry he was that he had betrayed them, to tell Jet that he still loved him, to apologize for lying about being a Firebender and the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and all of that, to say _something_, but neither of them would listen to him. And that was very disconcerting. As a result, he now spent most of his time moping about the Earth King's – now Azula's – palace and thinking of things to say that would get them to talk to him.

At last, it was time for Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, and the prisoners to return to the Fire Nation. Zuko had decided to stay, although Azula really wanted him to come home to the Fire Nation. Nonetheless, he decided to stay and watch over Ba Sing Se.

One night, Zuko got a message from Azula saying that some famous Fire Nation general was in town and wanted to have dinner with them. As it turned out, Mai got the same message. They were escorted to dinner, during which they quickly figured out that they had been set up by Azula and Ty Lee to go on a date. They then ditched the palace and went off to explore the city, during which they accidentally ran into Jin, the girl from the tea shop who once asked him out on a date, and they also kissed.

Now, Zuko was not the type to go around kissing people willy-nilly. But Mai had sort of been his first crush as a child. And, if Azula was to be believed, she had had a rather large crush on him for a while now. Maybe it was for sentimentality's sake, maybe it was the need to be touched, maybe he was just tired of being alone, but Zuko and Mai kissed for a long while that night. They then returned to his rooms and Mai spent the night there, although they didn't _do_ anything in the bed that two hormonal teenagers were capable of doing.

The following morning, as Azula had probably planned, Zuko accompanied Mai back to the Fire Nation. That, and he worried about Jet and Uncle Iroh's welfare. He didn't want them to suffer, and if he gave the word, they would be treated properly while on the boat, despite their prisoner status.

During the time it took to get to the Fire Nation, Zuko tried a number of times to get Uncle and Jet to talk to him, but to no avail. It was like they wanted nothing to do with him. So instead, he settled for hanging out with Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula on the ship, doing whatever the hell they wanted while there.

When they got home, there were grand welcoming ceremonies for Zuko and Azula, and he was allowed to speak with the Fire Lord, but all he could think about was Jet. He still loved him, even though Jet would probably love a platypus-bear more than Zuko right now. And it was hard to forget that, even though he did love Mai too.

Regarding Mai, the love he felt for her was somewhere between sisterly and romantic love. He wasn't quite sure which. He was pretty sure that he would enjoy sexual activities with her, but it would still feel kind of odd to be doing it with this girl he had known for most of his life. Then again, she was a pretty great kisser. And she listened to him when he wanted to talk, unlike Jet. And although they had had quite a spat on Ember Island when they went on vacation there, he was still as conflicted as ever.

One night, they actually decided to try having sex. And even though everything worked out fine and he had a pretty good orgasm, it still felt weird. The post-sex snuggling felt wrong to him, partially because he was used to being the one cradled in a strong pair of arms. Although he didn't mind holding Mai and being with her, it just felt strange to be in the position he was in.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to continue on with this relationship in a romantic way, due to the weird familial feelings that were also associated with it, and told Mai so. At first, she was unsure of what to say, but after a while, and seeing that Zuko really needed the companionship, she became somewhat okay with it. She didn't really care if he loved her or not in a romantic way; just that he loved her at all was enough, she said. She would still love him, but not in the way he loved her.

When Zuko found the scroll telling him to research his great-grandfather Sozin, he was surprised, to say the least. And when he actually read the scroll, he was aggravated to find that he hadn't learned anything new. So he went and talked to the person whom he assumed had pointed him to the information in the first place: Uncle Iroh.

After proceeding to yell at Iroh for not being helpful in this situation, the old man told him why he had so many issues in life. It was because not only was he descended from Fire Lord Sozin on his father's side, but he was also descended from Avatar Roku on his mother's side, and, as everyone knew, Sozin and Roku did not get along in their later years, resulting in a number of conflicts between the two and Sozin's search to destroy the Avatar among the Air Nomads and, by extension, Zuko's hunt for the Avatar.

So he was such a mess because he was descended from the Avatar AND Sozin. His soul was in conflict because of his mixed heritage.

Oh, joy.

And of course, Jet still wasn't talking to him. That just made him even angrier. So he stormed out of the prison and proceeded to set fire to everything in his room that he felt like destroying at the time. This was restricted to the bedding, largely because that could be replaced without too much effort; he would probably get into a certain amount of trouble if he set fire to his clothes, which cost quite a bit to make and repair, not to mention the fact that he would be left with nothing to wear if he did that, and a Fire Nation prince does not walk around naked.

So, confused and feeling very much alone in the world, Zuko spent much of his time in his room or training. When he wasn't doing that, he was in the company of Mai and, when they decided to join them, Ty Lee and Azula, taking trips around the Fire Nation or just lounging around the palace and doing things that teenagers did. Well, royal teenagers at any rate.

At last, he got what he had wanted for so long: the apparent respect of his father, Fire Lord Ozai. He was invited to attend a war meeting the day before the solar eclipse (Azula had discovered the Avatar's plan to invade the Fire Nation on the day of the eclipse, and she had told the Fire Lord of this plan immediately after their return to the Fire Nation, and he had made plans for everyone in the city to go into hiding and send out a massive force of the army to defeat the ragtag group of non-Firebenders). Azula was already there when Zuko arrived (big surprise, since she was quite clearly still the favored child of the two of them), along with a number of generals and the like. Nonetheless, the prince was invited to sit at his father's right hand, the thing he had wanted for years.

One of the generals – Shinu, Zuko thought it was – was discussing plans for what was to happen after the solar eclipse. He was going on about how Ba Sing Se was still under their control, but various Earthbender rebels were preventing them from gaining complete victory in the Earth Kingdom. He suggested a transfer of more domestic forces after the eclipse was over. All of which was rather boring to Zuko.

Ozai noticed this lack of interest in his son, and said, "Prince Zuko, you've been in the Earth Kingdom. Do you think adding more troops will stop these rebellions?"

Zuko considered this. There was only so much that brute force could do, but on the other hand, Ba Sing Se had been taken, which was the last stronghold of the Earth Kingdom and a former symbol of hope for many people. "The people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong. They can endure anything as long as they have hope," he finished.

His father nodded. "You're right. We need to destroy their hope."

Zuko started, "Well that's not exactly what I meant, but –"

"I think you should take their precious hope," Azula interrupted, "and the rest of their land, and burn it all to the ground." She smirked.

That suggestion got Ozai excited. "Yes, yes, you're right, Azula." He walked towards the table where the generals were seated. "Sozin's Comet is almost upon us, and on that day it will endow us with the strength and power of a hundred Suns. No bender will stand a chance against us."

"What are you suggesting, sir?" asked General Shinu.

"When the comet last came," Ozai continued, "my grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, used it to wipe out the Air Nomads. Now, I will use its power to end the Earth Kingdom. Permanently." He grinned wickedly, and began talking with the generals and Azula about how to accomplish this plan and how once it was it was complete, he would be, in his words, the "supreme ruler of everything." Zuko watched, horrified, as the generals applauded the Fire Lord.

Once the meeting was over, Zuko met up with Mai and told her about the new plan. She was, as per usual, unenthused, but so was he. He bid her good night and retreated to his apartments.

Fuck. If Ozai's plan worked, the world would be essentially destroyed. There would be no more Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe. There would only be the Fire Nation, and, as appealing as that might sound to Azula or his father, Zuko was not too pleased with the idea. What Ozai was planning was the total annihilation of a proud race of people and their homeland. And although Zuko cared for his homeland, his travels in the Earth Kingdom and the people he met there had changed him. He was not the same Zuko who had been banished three years ago, the arrogant little prince who would do anything and everything to get what he wanted. He had learned to be humble, to listen to people, to wait to strike at the opportune moment. And he would be damned if he let his father destroy the land and the people that had taught him all of that.

So Zuko resolved to do what was right, and join the Avatar's group. Sure, he would probably have to struggle to get there and work to earn the respect of their group - especially for Katara's respect, because she would likely skin him alive if he tried to hurt the Avatar in any way - but it was the right thing to do. Besides, the Avatar still needed someone to teach him Firebending, and who better than Zuko to do it?


	13. Chapter XIII

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter XIII**

Jet was getting just a little tired of being imprisoned in the Fire Nation. There was nothing to do at this prison, although he had heard that he was only slightly better off here than at other ones in this country. Still, he was tired of sitting on his ass day in and day out, doing nothing at all. The guards had taken away his swords, so he couldn't practice with them, which was what he usually did when he was bored.

He still wasn't ready to forgive Lee – dammit; he still couldn't get it right! His name was ZUKO! It was never Lee, not even for a minute! – as much as it hurt to have the prince beg him for forgiveness when he came down to visit the prison. Jet didn't like to make people beg, but he just wasn't sure what to think when it came to Zuko. Part of him still saw him as the wonderful boy who had claimed his heart in that dream-like time in Ba Sing Se, when everything was all right and there was no war to worry about and no psychotic bitches like Azula to deal with. Another part of him just wanted to ignore Zuko and let him rot like the piece of shit he was. And a third part of him just wanted to die, to leave this world and start all over again.

For the first week or so of his imprisonment, Jet spent a good amount of his time pacing about his cell and trying to figure out how to get out of it. He was going to try digging out of the prison, but discovered that the floor and walls were made of stone and metal, so digging was not an option. He supposed it would have been handy to be an Earthbender or to have an axe or something like that.

After that, he resorted to sulking and glaring at Zuko whenever he came to visit (which was a lot). Although he had been doing it before that point, he did it with more force now. When he wasn't glaring at Zuko, he was glaring at the walls of his cell as if he could glare his way through them and escape. Unfortunately, his mental prowess wasn't strong enough to do that and he remained in his cell.

After that, Jet gave into the emptiness in his mind and physical location and did nothing. He sat on the floor and stared blankly at everything. He barely ate or slept, and when he spoke it was very soft and rough sounding. He was afraid that he was going to lose his voice sometime soon.

Sometimes Iroh tried to talk to him. The old man liked to talk, that was for sure. And he was pretty good at telling stories. But most of the time, he tried to talk to him about Zuko. He told him things that Zuko did as a child, things he did as a teenager, that sort of thing. He also told the story of how Zuko got the scar on his left eye in its unabridged form, and what happened to cause him and Iroh to become refugees.

Jet came to the realization that Zuko wasn't exactly a bad guy – he just had bad methods for his good intentions. He was really only doing what he did because he wanted to gain the love and respect of his father (whom Jet had decided was even more of a bastard than he had originally thought). That was what drove him.

But the thing that still made Jet wary of Zuko was the fact that he had lied. Jet told him everything about him – his name, where he came from, why he was a Freedom Fighter, everything. And until they met up with Azula, Jet didn't even know Zuko's real name, let alone that he was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation! He wondered what else the teen lied about. Whatever – it wasn't like he would be seeing Zuko any time soon, if the prison guards had their way.

The guards kept mentioning a solar eclipse that was coming soon. Jet hadn't seen one of those before, but, judging from the way the guards spoke of it, it was not a good thing for the Fire Nation. And what was bad for them was good for Jet. If they couldn't Firebend, even if it was only for a few minutes, it still meant that the free world had a chance to strike back and attack them.

Interestingly enough, Iroh was somewhat pleased with the idea of a solar eclipse. When the guards weren't looking, he trained, strengthening his upper body and core muscles, which he hid with a pillow when the guards came by. Jet wasn't sure why he was doing that, but he was pretty sure it would become clear when the eclipse arrived.

Speaking of which, today was the day of the eclipse. Everything seemed abnormally calm, almost deadly calm. Jet wasn't sure what to make of it, but he had a feeling the Fire Nation knew about the eclipse and something else that was supposed to happen today as well. Perhaps they were expecting an attack?

No one was around when the eclipse began. Good, no one to disturb him. Jet closed his eyes and began dozing off.

Suddenly, he heard a loud clanging sound, almost like someone was ripping his or her cell apart. He opened his eyes and looked up at Iroh, who had emerged from his cell. The iron bars that previously held him were parted in the center and looked stretched.

Iroh was currently breaking apart Jet's cell in the same manner that he had done to his own. It looked tough, but the old man accomplished it in a minute or two. He then held out his hand to Jet, who took it somewhat nervously. They took off at a run out of the prison.

"Why are you doing this?" Jet asked.

"Because my nephew wouldn't want you to rot in jail for the rest of your life," Iroh replied. "I have friends who can hide us for as long as we need. We'll get out of here and go to them as fast as we can."

"Anything to get out of here," Jet muttered. They turned a corner, and found themselves being pursued by guards. Fortunately, the eclipse was still in effect, so they couldn't Firebend. Then again, neither could Iroh, but he was in a place physically where he could handle himself, judging from the way he fought off the guards. Jet threw in a few punches and kicks when he could, but Iroh had it mostly under control.

At last, they reached the door to the outside. It was locked, but Iroh kicked it open. They ran out the door as fast as they could, but soon a few more guards were on their tail. They kept running, but Jet was starting to slow down. The lack of physical activity over the last few weeks had been somewhat detrimental to his physique. He was panting, almost to the point of exhaustion.

Iroh made it out of the gate and kept running, injuring all guards he saw on the way and sending them down. Jet slowly picked himself up, but was instantly swarmed by a group of guards. They sent him to the ground and kicked and punched him. When their Firebending was returned to them, they started throwing in blasts of fire as well until Jet passed out.

When he awoke, he was in a wagon with some other prisoners. "What happened?" he asked, although talking hurt his face a little. "Where am I?"

An older man answered, "We tried to escape, but the guards caught us. You too. And now we're all headed to the Boiling Rock."

"What's that?" Jet asked. He had never heard of this "Boiling Rock" place. Was it a better facility?

"It's the highest security prison in the Fire Nation, reserved for war prisoners and dangerous criminals," the man explained. "You're a war prisoner, and since you tried to escape, you've also been deemed dangerous."

Oh, fuck.

When they got to the Boiling Rock, they had to take a gondola to cross the boiling lake that surrounded the prison island. Once there, they exited the gondola in single file, where they stood in front of an important-looking man in an advanced version of the traditional Fire Nation prison guard garb. Jet assumed he was the Warden, and, as the man said, he was correct. After that, Jet sort of tuned him out, until the Warden was in front of him, glaring and looking about ready to pop a blood vessel in his forehead.

"Am I boring you, boy?" the Warden asked. "Am I not interesting enough for you to pay attention to me?" He punched Jet in the stomach, and the teen doubled over. "Am I so uninteresting to you?"

"…No," Jet wheezed out.

"Good," the Warden replied. "That was what I wanted to hear. Take 'em away!" A troop of guards led the prisoners away to the atrium of the prison, where they were stripped of outside clothing and given a red tunic, pants, and shoes. They were then led to their own cells, which, unlike the prison at the capital, had a bed – albeit a rather lumpy-looking mattress on a rickety-looking frame, but it was better than nothing.

Jet decided to take a rest in his cell, seeing as he was still a bit in pain from the attack on him by the guards at the capital prison. He settled himself on the bed, and closed his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep.

But his efforts were short-lived, as a few moments after he closed his eyes the door to his cell opened and a few prisoners entered. These ones were not much older than he was, and they had not been among the group that he had arrived with. They looked rather burly and muscled.

"Can I help you with something?" Jet asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

"Word around the prison says you're that kid, Jet," one of them said. He was probably the leader of this little band. "The one who was Prince Zuko's fuck buddy?" He and his friends chuckled, and they stepped further into his room.

"Yeah? What of it?" Jet asked, raising an eyebrow. The men now surrounded him, and this was starting to look bad.

"You like it up the ass, boy?" the leader asked. He snapped his fingers, and two of his cohorts grabbed at Jet, only to get kicked in the groin by said teen. The rest of the group mobbed him, and after a few moments of fighting, they had Jet pinned on his back. "You like when I touch you like this?" Here, the man roughly slid a few of his fingers over Jet's groin, getting a gasp from the teen. "Uh-oh, somebody's been neglected. What, His Majesty hasn't touched you for a while, Jet?" He slid Jet's tunic up to reveal his chest, which he then began stroking roughly. Another man lowered his pants and a few of them began to touch his more sensitive places, and the touches were making Jet feel hot and bothered. And that was bad.

_This is wrong, _Jet thought. _This is so wrong. They shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be here, why am I on the –_ but all of Jet's thoughts ceased as a particularly arousing touch came from one of the other men. He panted and he knew that this was totally the wrong place and the wrong time to be doing this, but he was in no position to stop it. This was definitely not good. If something didn't happen soon, he was going to – oh, spirits, they made him come all over himself! "S-stop," he moaned. "N-no more…" But they didn't listen to him as they flipped him onto his stomach.

"You're so fucking hot," the leader said. He had a hard-on now that was enormous, and Jet really hoped that it wasn't going into him.

"Stop," he tried again, but the men didn't listen, and one of them jammed a finger inside of his entrance and SPIRITS, THAT HURT! He cried out at the intrusion, which caused another finger to move in with the first one. He whimpered, and when a third finger was forced in he screamed out right. He felt something trickle out of him, and he was pretty sure it was blood. That was definitely, absolutely, incontrovertibly not a good thing at this point. "STOP!"

"GET OFF OF HIM!" shouted a new voice. Jet looked up dazedly and saw a tough-looking girl standing in a fierce stance. "What do you shitheads think you're doing to him? Get off! Or do you want the Warden to hear about this?"

The men backed away slowly, pulling their hands away from Jet. "Jeez, Suki, way to spoil the fun," one of them said.

"I'll deal with you fucksticks later," the girl growled out. She closed the door once they were all gone, and knelt beside Jet, who lay in a heap on the floor.

"W-w-w-why?" Jet asked, trying not to cry. Fuck, he felt so violated and hurt and _dirty_. He just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep until he died.

"I'm so sorry about that," the girl said. "We had free time, and they said they were going to go greet the new boy. I didn't realize they meant you, and I didn't think this was what they meant by 'greet.'" She grabbed a rag that lay beside the bed and started cleaning Jet up. "I'm Suki, by the way."

"I'm Jet," he replied. "What are you in here for?"

"Princess Azula defeated me in combat and sent me here," Suki said. "I'm the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, and she beat me while I was trying to protect a friend and get him away. What about you?"

"Princess Azula captured me in Ba Sing Se," Jet said. "I was…with Prince Zuko, but that was before I actually knew who he was." He pulled his pants back up once Suki was done cleaning him. "Anyway, I was in the prison in the capital, but I tried to escape on the day of the solar eclipse and the guards caught me and sent me here." He sat up gingerly and winced at the skin to fabric contact. "I'll be feeling that later."

Suki offered him a hand up, which he gratefully took. "Well," Suki said, "looks like we're in the same boat. I actually had a boyfriend that I had to give up because he had things to do. His name's Sokka, and I –"

"Wait," Jet interrupted, "you know Sokka? Semi-muscley, likes to wear his hair pulled back, Water Tribe?"

"Incredibly sarcastic and overprotective? Likes his boomerang?" Suki finished. "Yup, that's the one. Wait, how do you know Sokka?"

"He, his sister, and the Avatar passed through my camp once," Jet said. "And I helped them get Appa back just before I was captured."

"I was trying to save Appa from Azula before I was captured!" Suki added. "Guess we have more in common than I thought, Jet." She grinned. "It's just about dinnertime, do you want to go get something to eat?"

Jet's stomach gurgled. "I think that means yes," he replied. Slowly, he took a few steps forward, testing his stamina, and found that he was good to walk. He'd probably still be sore for a while, but at least he could walk it off. He motioned for Suki to join him, and she led the way to the mess hall.

Over the next week or so, Jet and Suki became fast friends. She became his unofficial protector from the various prisoners who wanted to mess with, for lack of a better phrase, "Prince Zuko's fuck buddy." Fortunately, as Jet stayed longer in the jail, these attacks decreased. It was also fortunate that Jet's room was just below Suki's, so she could jump down and come to his rescue in the event that a new attack happened.

Jet and Suki talked about practically everything; from their former comrades to the various missions that they had performed - Jet even told her about the less than savory ones, with the disclaimer that he had learned from his mistakes and was not the same Jet who committed those acts - to the people they loved.

Suki still had hope that Sokka would find her someday, but Jet was not sure if he even wanted Zuko to find him. In the event that the prince did find him, there was definitely going to be a lot of talking and explaining to do on Zuko's part. And probably some punches on Jet's part.

One day, as they were resting in their rooms, Jet heard some banging coming down from Suki's room. It sounded like she had gotten in another fight. At least, that was what Jet hoped it was, and that it wasn't something more serious. All the same, he decided he'd better go and check on her and make sure it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

He jogged up the stairs to Suki's floor, and saw one guard blocking the door to her room from another guard. The latter tried to force her way past the former, and the first guard retaliated by throwing her against the wall. They then proceeded to fight. Suki's door opened, and another guard tried to sneak out of the vicinity, but the female guard stopped him.

"Help!" she said. "I think he's an impostor! Arrest him!" And she removed the captured guard's mask to reveal the last person Jet expected to see at the Boiling Rock.

Zuko.


	14. Chapter XIV

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter XIV**

Great, now Zuko was arrested for impersonating a guard. That was a good chunk of their plan thrown out the window. And to make matters worse, the Warden was Mai's uncle, which meant that Mai, Azula, and Ty Lee would probably be here soon to torture and/or capture him once again.

At least he had a bed to sleep on. That was handy. And he got clothes, and they were actually of semi-decent quality. They were considerably better than what he had been wearing when he and Uncle Iroh had been traveling around the Earth Kingdom in disguise.

Someone knocked on his door. He opened it, and found Sokka standing outside. "Hey," he said as he came in, "I've got some news."

"What is it? Your father?" Zuko asked.

Sokka shook his head. "It's actually news for you. Suki told me that Jet's here in the prison."

Zuko's eyes widened. "Jet? What's he doing here?"

"She said something about him trying to escape on the Day of Black Sun," Sokka explained. "She wasn't too clear on the details, only that they're sort of allies now."

"Does he know I'm here?" Zuko asked tentatively.

Sokka nodded gravely. "And she said you've got a lot of explaining to do. When you're ready to talk to him, his room's just below Suki's." He exited the room and left Zuko to his musings.

Zuko was both happy and sad at this news. Happy, because Jet was alive and well and he could get him back. Sad, on the other hand, because Jet probably hated him now and would likely want nothing to do with him. Zuko would feel that way if he were in Jet's position. It was probably going to take a while for Jet to understand why he did what he did, and longer still for Jet to trust him again.

At any rate, he decided to go see Jet in his room, and hopefully get things worked out. Well, at least get started working things out.

He went down to the appropriate floor, and knocked on Jet's door. At first, there was no answer, but then he heard some shuffling, and then Jet opened the door. He glared, and then pulled Zuko into his room to avoid arousing suspicion.

The first thing Jet did after Zuko got inside was punch him in the chest repeatedly. "If I had my swords here, so help me, you'd be dead by now, Zuko," Jet said after he finished. He punched Zuko one last time to punctuate it. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"Sokka and I came here to rescue his father," Zuko replied. "We're going to get out, though, because he's not here."

"Did you miss the part where the Warden said no one gets out of here, genius?" Jet quipped.

"We've got a plan," Zuko countered. "We're going to turn one of the coolers into a boat and float across the lake."

"And just how are you going to get a hold of one of the coolers?" Jet asked skeptically.

"I'm supposed to get in a fight and Firebend –" Jet punched Zuko again, cutting him off.

"Don't talk about that," Jet said. "I don't want to hear it." He wrapped his arms around himself protectively and turned his back to Zuko.

"I'm sorry," Zuko replied, wrapping his arms around Jet from behind. The other boy immediately got out of the embrace, slapping Zuko's cheek.

"Don't touch me, you bastard," he hissed. "I still don't trust you."

Zuko sighed. "I know. I didn't expect you to. But please try to understand, I really have changed. I'm a better person. I'm teaching the Avatar how to – how to do my style of bending, which is why I'm with Sokka now."

"Then tell me why, Zuko," Jet started. "Tell me why you lied to me about practically everything."

"Because I knew you'd hate me right from the start if I told you who and what I was," Zuko replied. "I made that mistake early in my travels, and I couldn't afford to do that again. So I lied. But I didn't lie about everything. I just didn't give you the whole truth sometimes."

Jet sighed exasperatedly. "You're really something, you know that?" The door opened for chores hour again, and they both exited the room. "And I'm coming with you when you escape. I'm sick of this place."

"I had a feeling you might be," Zuko replied. They parted, and Zuko left to go enact his and Sokka's plan.

During the next few minutes, Zuko somehow got tossed around by that big oaf Chit Sang, Firebended his way out of the fight, and then got thrown in the cooler. He then set about deconstructing said cooler and preparing it for departure.

A few hours later, Sokka came to the cooler and mockingly said, "I can take you back to your cell if you've learned your lesson."

Zuko chuckled and said, "Yes, I have. Completely." He displayed his handiwork with the nuts and bolts, which he had skillfully hidden in his shirtfront.

Sokka grinned at him. "I got Suki, Chit Sang and Jet out of their cells a few minutes ago. They'll meet us at the shore."

Zuko heard footsteps outside the cooler. He quickly pulled Sokka in and closed the door. Two guards went by and were discussing the incoming prisoners for tomorrow. Sokka and Zuko perked up when they heard them mention "war prisoners."

"It could be your father," Zuko said. Sokka nodded but didn't meet his eyes. Zuko continued, "So are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"

"I don't know," Sokka replied. "Is it right? Is it right of me to risk Suki's freedom – all our freedom – on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?"

Zuko shrugged. "It's your call, Sokka."

The disguised Water Tribe teen gulped and seemed to struggle with his decision. But after a few moments of consideration, he appeared to have reached his decision. He kicked the cooler loose, and both he and Zuko jumped in front of it to stop it rolling down the whole way and ruining everything.

As they got closer to the lake, they could see Suki, Chit Sang, and Jet waiting for them, along with two other people that Zuko didn't recognize. Suki, Chit Sang and Jet came up to help them get the cooler down. Chit Sang explained that the other two people were his girlfriend and his best friend, and they would be joining them.

Sokka, however, still had his doubts about going, Zuko could tell that. He wondered aloud if Sokka was okay with going and losing his chance at seeing his dad again.

"Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail," Sokka said.

Zuko knew where this mindset was going, because he had been there himself. "No, it's not. Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out. And even though you'll probably fail over and over again, you have to _try_ every time. You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."

Chit Sang interjected, "Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we get a move on?"

After a minute of consideration, Sokka replied, "No, I'm staying." He turned to Suki, Zuko, and Jet. "You guys go. You've been here long enough."

"I'm not leaving without you, Sokka," Suki said. Jet and Zuko voiced similar opinions, although Jet did so only halfheartedly. Chit Sang and his friends, however, took off as soon as they could.

Sokka smiled at his friends' support, and then looked sadly at the makeshift boat. "I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake."

Of course, they hadn't made a complete mistake. They weren't the ones who got caught in the cooler when Chit Sang tried to paddle with a piece of the cooler and screamed when he burned his hand. They were already halfway to the gondola arrival dock, and were watching it enter the jail.

After about ten prisoners filed in, there was a pause that seemed like the end of the group. Then one of the guards yelled into the gondola, and one last man emerged.

"Dad," Sokka whispered. Clearly, this was the right man. Sokka ran up to get a closer look at the lineup of prisoners. Zuko couldn't hear what was going on, but he saw Sokka's father get jerked down to the Warden's shoes, but he retaliated and tilted his handcuffs so the Warden got tripped up on them. The prisoners were then led away to their rooms. Sokka followed them after a few minutes, obviously wanting to talk to his father.

Suki and Jet took off, leaving Zuko alone. Zuko tried to get Jet to talk to him, but the teen was still not willing to do so just yet. Zuko sighed, and retreated to his room.

After about a half hour, Sokka came back to Zuko's room. He told a few approaching guards that he was just going to rough him up a bit, when he actually was going to tell Zuko the new escape plan. He told him to be in the yard in one hour, but just as he finished relaying the new plan the door started to open, and Sokka had to actually look like he was trying to hurt Zuko. One of the guards pulled Sokka away, and led Zuko out of his cell.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Zuko said as he was shoved into another cell.

"Come on, Zuko," said a voice, which revealed itself to be Mai, "we all know that's a lie."

"Mai," Zuko interjected, as he sat down in the cell's chair. "How did you know I was here?"

"Because I know you so well," she said mockingly. Getting no response, she sighed and added, "The Warden's my uncle, you idiot." She pulled out a letter. "But I guess I don't know you at all. All I get is a letter. You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart."

"Mai, I thought we had been through this," Zuko said. "I don't love you that way, and I didn't mean to –"

"You didn't mean to?" she interrupted, and began reading the letter. "'Dear Mai, I'm sorry you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving.'"

"Stop!" Zuko shouted. "This isn't about you. This is about the Fire Nation. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Thanks, Zuko," Mai replied sourly. "That makes me feel _all_ better." She threw the letter at his head.

"Really, Mai, I never wanted to hurt you," Zuko said as he rubbed the spot where the letter had hit him. "But I have to do this to save my country."

"Save it?" Mai asked. "You're betraying your country!"

"That's not how I see it," Zuko replied.

"Then you're even more of an idiot than I thought," Mai said.

"Really, Mai, what good is going to come out of the Fire Nation winning the war? Is it really worth everything to have complete control of the world?" Zuko asked.

Mai was about to answer when a guard came running up to the room and said, "Ma'am, there's a riot going on. I'm here to protect you."

She turned to look at the guard and told him, "I don't need any protection." Zuko chuckled in agreement.

"I'm sorry," said the guard, "but I'm under direct orders from your uncle to make sure nothing happens."

Zuko bent a few flames at the guard's feet, knowing that he would shield Mai from them. He then rushed out of the room with Mai on his tail, but he closed the door before she could get to him. He locked it and, after seeing Mai glare at him through the little slot in the door, took off for the yard.

As the guard had said, there was a massive riot going on. There were flames being thrown in every direction and punches going where the fire couldn't. Zuko threw a guard over his shoulder just as the guard was about to subdue him. He then ran up to Sokka, who was standing at the bottom of a tower with Chit Sang, Suki, Jet, and Sokka's father, who Zuko learned was called Hakoda.

"Good, we're all here," Sokka said. "Now all we need to do is grab the Warden and get to the gondolas."

"And how do we do that?" Zuko asked.

"I'm not sure," Sokka replied, somewhat embarrassed. Zuko was about ready to strangle him – this was something he should have thought through beforehand!

"Uh, I think your girlfriend's got it under control," Chit Sang observed, pointing to the tower where the Warden was watching the chaos. Suki was headed that way, jumping across the sea of people and then scaling the wall to land on the platform. She disabled all of the guards in her way, and then successfully wrapped up the Warden's hands and gagged him with his own headband.

"That's some girl," Hakoda commented. Jet nodded in agreement, and Sokka replied, "Tell me about it." The group then ran up a staircase to reach Suki and the Warden, who was tossed over Chit Sang's shoulder rather unceremoniously.

They ran to the gondola platform. The guards there moved to stop them, but upon seeing the Warden in their party, they stopped and let them pass.

They climbed into the gondola, Sokka going first. Zuko started its movement with the lever, and then destroyed the lever so the guards could not stop them.

Hakoda was looking back at the tower, though. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing at a pair of figures that everyone in the group knew well: Azula and Ty Lee.

"That's a problem," Zuko said. Especially now that Azula and Ty Lee were hopping onto the gondola line and coming rapidly towards them. Azula was using her Firebending to propel herself along, and Ty Lee ran across the line.

"This is a rematch I've been waiting for," Suki said, and Zuko agreed with her. He then jumped onto the gondola's roof with Suki and Sokka doing the same. Jet and Hakoda were focused on keeping the gondola going, and Chit Sang was keeping an eye on the Warden.

Azula and Ty Lee landed on the gondola roof and Azula immediately began bending in Zuko's direction, while Ty Lee occupied herself with Suki. Sokka assisted Zuko when he could and also tried to avoid getting stabbed by Ty Lee's nimble, chi blocking fingers. It was a fierce battle, and very dangerous because of the methods used and the location. One misstep and a person could go flying off the edge of the gondola into the boiling lake. Each fighter had a near fall at one point, although they were prevented from falling by their own power or by their allies rescuing them at the crucial moment.

Suddenly, the Warden leaned out the window and yelled, "Cut the line!" Chit Sang grabbed him again and covered his mouth to prevent any further outbursts.

After a few more moments of fighting, Ty Lee observed that the guards were indeed going to cut the line. After alerting Azula to this fact, the princess decided that their battle was over. She propelled herself away from the roof using her Firebending, mockingly bid Zuko goodbye, and landed on another gondola that was heading back to the tower, along with Ty Lee.

"The gondola's about to go!" Zuko said as he climbed back into the cart.

"I hope this thing floats," Hakoda replied grimly.

Suddenly, there were shouts of pain coming from the tower. There was a single figure fighting the guards, using some small kind of projectiles. The figure then kicked away the blade that was being used to cut the line.

Sokka asked, "Who is that?"

Zuko squinted, and then, as the figure turned to look at their gondola, realized, "It's Mai." But why was she doing that? Didn't she hate Zuko now? Why would she be trying to help him escape?

The gondola reached the entrance tower. The former prisoners filed out and Chit Sang threw the Warden back in.

"Sorry, but your record is officially broken," Hakoda said before slamming the door shut and leaving the Warden to struggle on the floor.

Zuko paused as they walked out of the tower. How had Azula and Ty Lee gotten to the island in the first place? "My sister was on that island," he said.

"Yeah, and she's probably behind us. Let's not stop," Sokka replied.

Zuko shook his head. "What I mean is she got here somehow." He went to the edge of the rocks and spotted a Fire Nation zeppelin docked at the shore. "That's our way out of here."

They all hopped into the zeppelin and Zuko steered them back to the Western Air Temple. When they got there, Sokka explained the presence of Suki, Jet, Hakoda, and Chit Sang and where they had been for the last few days.

Once everything was all settled and everyone had new rooms set up (there were plenty of bedrooms and bedrolls, which was fortunate), Zuko went to visit Jet. The former Freedom Fighter's door was wide open, and he was lying on his bed, dazedly staring up at the ceiling.

"I brought you something," Zuko said. "I know it's not much, but I thought you'd want to have them, since you left them at the prison when you got captured." Jet looked up, and Zuko held out his twin tiger hook swords. The teen gasped, and took them from Zuko's outstretched hand.

"Why did you do this?" Jet asked.

"Because I really hoped I'd see you again," Zuko explained, "and that you'd forgive me eventually if I gave these to you."

Jet looked so confused, as if he was unsure of what to do, which was so uncharacteristic of Jet that it looked almost comical as well as sad. "Oh, Zuko, _why?_ Why did we have to end up like this? Why was everything based on lies? Why didn't you –" but before Jet could finish, Zuko embraced him and rested his head on Jet's shoulder. Oh, how he had missed this. The smell of Jet's hair, the feel of Jet's skin against his, just the closeness they had shared.

"Because I didn't want you to hate me," Zuko replied softly. "I missed you, Jet." He threaded his fingers in Jet's hair, which had grown longer from his days in prison.

Jet was silent, and he felt tense in Zuko's arms. After a moment, he stonily said, "I need to be alone right now."

Zuko released his former lover, looking confused and lost. What had he done wrong? Why weren't things back to the way they had been before? Why was Jet still shying away from him? He wanted to ask all of these questions and more, but he was going to give Jet his space right now. They would talk when Jet was ready. He backed out of the room, but just as he was about to turn to leave, he said, "Whatever it is I did, I'm so sorry."


	15. Chapter XV

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

**

* * *

Chapter XV**

When Jet got to the Western Air Temple, all he could think about was that he and Zuko would eventually have to hash things out and talk, as much as Jet didn't want to. And it would probably have to be sooner than later. Especially considering that they would be living together for a while, however long they were planning to wait to move on.

Anyway, back to Zuko. He knew that the teen was going to try and make things better between them, he just knew it. And when Zuko brought him his hook swords, the one thing he wished he could have gotten before he had been captured and taken to the Boiling Rock, he knew that he was going to try to start that path of reconstruction now. He wanted so badly to just stay there in Zuko's arms, those arms that he had actually started to miss, but then he thought of what had happened to him at the Boiling Rock with the men and he felt so dirty compared to Zuko. The contact just felt wrong right now, so he broke it off, and Zuko left him.

Jet then plopped back onto his bed, wrapped his arms around himself, and curled into the fetal position. Oh, spirits. He was still in love with Zuko, and wanted to get back with him, but he still wasn't sure if he could forgive him for all of the lying and leading him on that Zuko did. He just wasn't sure. So he lay there, staring blankly at the wall, until at last he fell asleep and dreamed of nothing.

He woke up to the sound of something hitting the temple, something that sounded rather like a blast of fire. Which meant it probably was fire. Which meant they were all in danger.

He grabbed his swords and ran out of his room to find the rest of the group trying to figure out how to get out of the temple, which was proving to be a challenge because Appa didn't like tunnels, according to Aang, and Azula was outside of the temple, so he assumed that she was the one leading the attack. Zuko was running towards her, and he launched three blasts of fire – the third hit successfully – but just as he was about to get on the ship he lost his grip and fell from view.

That image stuck with Jet. He hadn't expected to lose Zuko just as he was about to gain him back. That was too much. So he ran up to the front line and started deflecting as many bombs as he could, hoping to save the rest of the group from Zuko's fate. The majority of the group, including Jet, got onto Appa's back and took off with an earth mask covering the sky bison's face, while the rest of the warriors took to the tunnels. Jet hoped they would not be joining Zuko at the bottom of the world.

But it turned out that Zuko had not fallen all the way down to the bottom of the world, just part of the way (Jet thanked the spirits that he hadn't died). He came slowly back up, riding atop another zeppelin. He then proceeded to launch himself at Azula once again, landing on her zeppelin successfully this time. They were almost evenly matched in the fight, Zuko blocking her every move. At one point, their fists collided, which caused the airship to explode and both parties to fall off. Katara caught Zuko as they were flying past on Appa, but it appeared that Azula was not going to make it back to her airship. A few seconds later, however, she launched herself back into the air on sheer firepower, much to Zuko's displeasure. Nevertheless, they escaped the battle and took off in search of a place to land.

Unconsciously, Jet scooted closer to Zuko while they were flying. This was partially due to the fact that there wasn't a whole lot of space in Appa's saddle, and partially because Jet wanted to make sure Zuko was still there and this wasn't just a dream. He brushed his hand against the prince's, and, feeling him brush back, let it stay there. Small smiles graced both of their features.

When they landed, everyone started getting the tents set up. Zuko got his tent constructed and tossed his stuff inside it. Turning to Jet, he asked, "Do you want to set your stuff in my tent? I wouldn't want you to have to deal with mosquitoes or things like that tonight."

Jet considered it, but then that meant he would have to sleep next to Zuko and who knows what could happen if they were next to each other at night. And Jet just wasn't ready for that yet, so he declined the offer. However, he did settle his sleeping bag closer to Zuko's tent, just for the security of having him nearby.

The group settled around a campfire that Zuko started and ate dinner. Everyone congratulated Zuko on a job well done in the battle earlier that day – well, everyone except Katara. But she seemed to have some sort of issues with him, which Jet decided he might want to ask her about, but it looked like Zuko was trying to sort things out by himself. A few minutes later, he returned. Jet assumed that it had gone poorly, and thought nothing more of it. He'd let Zuko deal with Katara; it was their issue, and he had no place stepping into it. Or rather, he did, and he just didn't feel like getting water-whipped by a cranky Katara. He then decided to go to bed, and settled in for the night.

The next day, Zuko and Katara took off on a trip together. Jet mused that Zuko must have known something that was of interest to Katara, otherwise she might not have gone off with him.

Again, Zuko was the one to be taken away by a girl, not Jet. And once again, Jet was feeling the pangs of jealousy. But unlike the situation with Jin, Zuko might actually have a chance with Katara, so that made Jet even unhappier.

After brooding on it for a few minutes and coming up with nothing, he decided to talk to Aang about the situation with Katara and Zuko. He figured that Aang would be the one to talk things over with; after all, if the Avatar couldn't fix this sort of thing, then no one could. Except maybe Sokka, but that would be his last resort. Definitely last resort.

Jet was not one to mince words, so he came right out and asked Aang, "What can I do to let myself forgive Zuko?"

"Why would you need to forgive Zuko?" Aang asked. "What did he do to you?"

Jet gulped and tried to find a way to say _"We were fuck buddies and I loved him, but then I found out he wasn't who he said he was and he broke my heart and put me in prison for the last few weeks"_ without totally scarring the Avatar for life. So he just said, "I loved him, and then he broke my heart."

That still got a blush out of Aang. "You mean, like, _loved _loved him?"

"Yeah," he said. "And I'm not sure if I want to love him still." He snorted. "It's weird for me to be talking about this sort of thing with you, isn't it?"

Aang, who had now turned very pink in the face, nodded. "Just a little."

"Sorry," Jet replied. "But I felt like I had no one else to turn to. I mean you're the Avatar - if you can't help me, no one can."

"That's true," Sokka added from his tent, "the Avatar is looked to for guidance quite a bit. I don't know if Aang can handle the lovey-dovey stuff yet, but after my experiences with –"

"THANK YOU SOKKA, I'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE," Aang shouted, blocking Sokka's tent with an Earth tent. He flushed once again, and then signaled for Jet to join him on the edge of the cliff.

They sat side by side, just watching the waves crash against the cliff. Finally, Aang asked, "So why is it that you can't bring yourself to forgive Zuko?"

Jet looked at his hands contemplatively. "He lied to me," he said sadly. "He didn't tell me that he was the Prince of the Fire Nation. He said his name was Lee, and he got that scar from a Fire Nation raid on his village. I didn't know he wasn't a Firebender until we met his sister in Ba Sing Se. And the thing was, I believed him. I didn't ask about his life except for the first day I met him." His hands curled into fists. "I guess I can't forgive him because I don't want to be lied to again. I hate liars."

"Then you also hate yourself," Aang added. "Because you were and still are a liar."

"What?" Jet spluttered. "I don't lie anymore! I've changed!"

"I know, Jet, I know," Aang soothed. "But I'm not just talking about what you did to that Earth Kingdom village. You lie to yourself all the time."

"I lie…to myself?" Jet repeated, confused. How do you lie to yourself? Look in a mirror and say falsehoods to your reflection?

"It's something I learned at the Eastern Air Temple," Aang explained. "I met a guru there. He said that the greatest lies are the ones we tell ourselves, and you're lying when you say that you don't love Zuko."

"I'm not saying that I don't love him," Jet replied. "It's that I can't."

"But you can," Aang countered. "I've seen the way you look at Zuko, like you want him so badly but at the same time you build up so many walls between you and him that it's like you can't have him. But the truth is that you can do anything you want, even love Zuko again. You just have to believe in what you're doing, and give into it completely. Let go of all of the lies you tell yourself, Jet. Let go."

"I can't," Jet said. "It's too painful." He clutched at his sleeves, hoping to find some small comfort there that didn't exist.

Aang paused, then he said, "I think I've got a way for you to do it," he said. He turned towards Jet, and indicated for him to face him. Jet did so and mirrored Aang's seated position. He rested his hands on his knees, loosely draped there, although Jet wanted very badly to grip them "Close your eyes," Aang continued, "and relax. I'm going to try to reach you telepathically."

"So it'll be like talking to a spirit, then?" Jet mused.

"Something like that," Aang replied. "Now relax." Jet closed his eyes, and reached out with his other senses. He heard the roar of the ocean against the cliff, and let that sound carry him into a misty, dreamy state of mind.

Aang was in the dream-state as well. "Great job," he said. "I've never done this without a spiritual being, so I apologize if things go a little haywire."

"I'm trusting you with my self, Aang," Jet said tentatively. "Do you think you can handle it?"

"As you said, I'm the Avatar," Aang replied. "If I can't do it, no one can." He smiled, and took Jet's hands. "Now, tell me again why you won't let yourself be with Zuko."

"Because I hate liars," Jet said automatically, "and he lied to me."

"That's not all of it," Aang replied. "Dig deeper." The mist surrounding them cleared just a little.

Jet sighed. "Because he broke my heart," he said, "and I'll kill him if he does that again."

"Deeper." Again, the mist cleared more.

"Because he's Fire Nation," Jet said, "and I've hated the Fire Nation ever since they killed my parents and destroyed my village."

"You don't hate the Fire Nation, Jet," Aang replied, "You just hate the Rough Rhinos. They did that to your village, not the entire country and its people. Go deeper still." The mist cleared completely.

"I've gone as deep as I can go, Aang," Jet replied. "There's nothing left to clear."

"Yes, there is," Aang said sagely. "Look inside yourself. What is it that you fear most?"

Jet closed his eyes once again, and found that within himself was the child he used to be, shaking and crying and screaming, "DON'T LEAVE ME, MOM AND DAD! COME BACK, COME BACK!" And that made the current Jet tear up as well. Yes, that was definitely it.

"Because I don't want to lose him," Jet said. "Because I don't want him to die. Because I don't want to be left alone again." Tears were dripping from his eyes freely. "I hate being alone."

"And that is why you are afraid to be with Zuko," Aang replied. "Because you don't want him to leave for any reason, and you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if he was taken away from you."

"Yes." Jet was crying fully now. "I'd die without him."

Aang reached up to hug him loosely. "It's okay, Jet," he said. "Let it all out." And he just held onto Jet while the older boy cried and cried until his eyes hurt and his tear ducts were empty.

The dream-state faded away, and Jet opened his eyes to find tears running down his cheeks and soaking his shirt. "I…I feel so much freer," he said. "I can forgive Zuko now. I feel it."

Aang smiled. "That's good," he replied. "I'm glad I could help."

"Thank you Aang," Jet said, bowing to the young Avatar. Aang bowed in kind, and sent Jet on his way.

Some hours later, Toph, Suki, Jet, Sokka, Aang, and Momo took off for the Fire Lord's beach house on Ember Island, which was where they had landed. Zuko had told them to meet him and Katara there when they came back, so they just decided to wait until they came back. Zuko took Katara there first, and actually ran into the group when he was flying back and gave them a lift to the house.

Jet wanted to talk to Zuko, tell him that he was ready to forgive him, but he wanted to wait until they could go somewhere private. So he decided to wait until after they landed and reunited with Katara.

Jet followed Aang and Zuko out to the port where Katara was sitting, paddling her feet in the water and looking rather forlorn. She and Aang talked for a few minutes, and then she did something unexpected.

She hugged Zuko.

Jet was tempted to run away and leave Zuko with Katara, but he knew that it wasn't anything to be worried about. He still loved Zuko, and knew that Zuko still loved him. Otherwise, he would still be roasting at the Boiling Rock right now.

Aang talked with Zuko for a few minutes, and then they separated. Zuko finally seemed to sense Jet's presence, and said, "Did you want something?"

Tentatively, Jet came up to him. He knew this wasn't a situation for words, but still wanted to express himself properly. So he did the one thing that he knew would get through clearly, and kissed him fully on the lips. And into that kiss, he poured all of the love, joy, sorrow, and forgiveness he had with Zuko.


	16. Chapter XVI

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

**Chapter XVI**

The next morning, Jet awoke alone yet again. He wondered at that, because he and Zuko had gone to bed together in the prince's old room and Zuko would have told him if he had things to do in the morning. But then he heard the sounds of fire blasts out in the courtyard, which meant Zuko and Aang were training. He smiled, and looked out the window, which had a perfect view of the courtyard, and saw his newly reinstated lover, shirtless, shooting fire out of his feet and his hands.

While Zuko was wiping himself off with a towel, Sokka came into the courtyard brandishing a scroll, with Suki not far behind. Apparently, a play about the group was being put on by the Ember Island Players, to which Zuko responded with disgust (apparently they butchered "Love Amongst the Dragons" every year when he was a child).

"You know, we don't all have to go," Jet pointed out. "If you don't want to see the play, Zuko, I'll stay here with you."

Zuko smiled. "I'd like that."

"You two going to get your sexy on?" Toph asked playfully. Both boys turned bright red, along with Katara, Aang, and Sokka, while Suki looked like she was about to bust a gut laughing.

"Then it's decided," Sokka said once he got over his shock at Toph's statement. "The two angry jerks are going to stay behind and play house while the rest of us go and see the most awesome play ever!" He cheered and ran out of the courtyard, with the rest of the group - except for Jet and Zuko - following him.

Zuko came up to Jet's window. "Good morning," he said. "You sleep all right?"

"Much better than usual," Jet replied. "You?"

Zuko smiled. "The same. I missed sleeping next to you."

"You just like using me as your teddy bear, don't you?" Jet asked jokingly.

"Well, you are pretty cuddly," Zuko replied. Jet swatted at his head, and let his fingers rest there, stroking his lover's hair.

Katara reentered the courtyard. "Um, we're just going to go into town now," she said, blushing once again. "There's food in the kitchen and town's not too far away, but don't burn the house down. Oh, and Momo and Appa will need –" Zuko shooed her out of the courtyard and came back through the house to Jet's and his room.

"Now, where were we?" Zuko asked. "Ah, yes." And he knelt on the mattress before Jet, while the other boy began stroking his hair lovingly once again. He loosely draped his arms around Jet's hips.

"I forgot that your hair was so nice," Jet commented.

"I haven't actually cleaned it in a few days," Zuko replied. "I think I'll go take a bath; you're welcome to join me." He stood up, and held a hand out to Jet, which the Freedom Fighter took, and together they went to the baths near the main house.

Once they were all clean, they decided to lie out in the sun and relax. Zuko went and got some blankets and pillows for them, along with some food in case they got hungry, and set them up in the courtyard. They then laid down on the makeshift bed and let the sun warm them, while they cuddled and joked and ate and eventually settled down for a nice long tanning session.

As Jet was lying in the sun, drowsily thinking of the things he'd like to do to Zuko once they got into bed that night, he felt a weight settle on his legs. He turned his head, and found the prince there, rubbing some lotion into his palms. "What are you doing?" Jet asked.

"I was going to give you a massage, if you'd like," Zuko asked. "Is that alright?"

"That would be fantastic," Jet replied, and let his head fall back down to its former position. He then felt Zuko move up along his back and felt the prince settle on his hips, and begin working on his neck and shoulders.

Oh, spirits, if he had known Zuko was this good at massages, he would have made him do them all the time when they were in Ba Sing Se! He worked out every kink and knot of muscle that ever existed in Jet's back. "Since when are you so good at this?" Jet asked huskily.

"When you have Ty Lee among your friends," Zuko replied, "you learn a lot about the human body. You haven't lived until you've had one of her massages."

Jet nodded, making a mental note to ask that girl for a massage once this war was over and she had been dealt with appropriately. But for right now, he was a little too busy enjoying the massage he was getting from Zuko, who had decided to add a little heat to his touches to work out the kinks in Jet's lower back. That felt _glorious_, and Jet practically melted right there in the courtyard.

After about ten more minutes of this amazing massage, during which Zuko managed to reach nearly every inch of Jet's body from head to feet, the two lovers lay in a heap on the blankets. Jet lay with his head in Zuko's lap, eyes closed in total relaxation as the prince stroked his hair. Zuko was also feeding Jet from the supply they had acquired before settling in the courtyard.

They napped for a while, Zuko holding Jet close to him (Jet was right, he was practically Zuko's teddy bear in bed). Some hours later, they were awakened by the simultaneous gurgling of their stomachs, so they decided it was time to go make some dinner.

They got what they needed out of the kitchen. Zuko cooked the meat, while Jet made a light fruit and vegetable salad. They then settled outside on their blankets once again, and took turns feeding each other until their plates were empty.

Again, they lay on the blankets in a heap, watching the sun begin its westward descent. They lay propped up against the pillows, legs and arms entangled in an erotic mess.

"I wonder if the play's any good," Jet mused as he fiddled with a piece of Zuko's hair.

"It's probably not," Zuko replied. "The Ember Island Players were horrible when I was a kid, and they probably still are."

"I bet you were a cute kid," Jet said.

"I actually was, partially because I didn't have my scar then," Zuko commented.

"I kind of like the scar," Jet said. "It makes you look tough, like you can handle anything. I like that."

Zuko smiled. "You're the first person to say that."

"Good," Jet replied. "I would probably hate it if everyone thought your scar was sexy, and you'd probably hate that too. Besides, you have enough fangirls already, and they probably think it's cool-looking too."

"Eurgh, fangirls," Zuko shuddered. "But you had your fair share at the tea shop, don't forget that."

"Yeah," Jet said. "And your uncle had his own little set of old ladies to flirt with."

Zuko was silent. Oops, Jet might have said the wrong thing. "Sorry," he said.

"It's okay," Zuko replied. "For all I know, he probably still hates me."

"Oh, definitely not," Jet said. "When we were in prison together, all he would talk about was you. He still cares deeply for you, Zuko. You just need to hear it from him is all."

Zuko smiled sadly. "Thanks, but after what I did, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he hated me."

"Oh, come on," Jet scoffed. "If I can forgive you – and believe me, I'm not usually very forgiving – your uncle definitely can. And I'm pretty sure he has."

"Thanks," Zuko replied. He remained silent, though, making Jet assume he was lost in memories of his past crimes.

Jet stood up. "Wait here," he said, and went back into the house to go get something that Iroh had given him when they were still in prison. He heated up some water, got two cups, and came back out with a tray of tea.

"Is that…?" Zuko started, but the smell of the tea wafted over him and made his words stop.

"Your uncle told me that jasmine tea was your favorite," Jet said with a smile. "And he taught me to make it just the way you like it." He poured a cup and passed it to Zuko. The prince took a sip, and a soft smile lit his features. Jet poured himself a cup as well, and kissed Zuko on the forehead. "I don't want you to be sad anymore," he said, "so please, don't."

"I'll try," Zuko replied. He sipped at his tea and leaned against Jet while they watched the sun continue its descent as the moon came into view. Jet pawed Zuko's hair affectionately, wanting to take away as much of the pain from his lover as he could.

When the rest of the Gaang returned home, they found Jet and Zuko curled up in Zuko's bedroom with their teacups beside them.


	17. Chapter XVII

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

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**Chapter XVII**

Two days had passed since the failure of a play (the general report was that it sucked, but Sokka added that the effects were decent), and Zuko discovered that the Gaang was going to wait until after Sozin's Comet arrived to take down Fire Lord Ozai, an idea which neither Zuko nor Jet were aware of. Zuko then explained what was to happen, and they decided that they really did have to take him down before the comet arrived.

The trouble was that Aang couldn't bring himself to kill the Fire Lord. He said it went against everything he had been taught by the Airbender monks. However, Katara suggested that they would all help him prepare and do the act if he deemed it necessary. But even in training exercises, Aang wasn't willing to kill the Fire Lord, even when he was the Melon Lord being controlled by Toph, which frustrated Zuko to no end. Finally, when the group confronted Aang about it, he blew up at them and stormed off to do some meditation to figure it out. After that, everyone went to bed.

Jet and Zuko settled in their bed for the night. Jet gave Zuko a massage; although Zuko was definitely better at it than he was, the prince was quite pleased with the movements and relaxed under Jet's touch.

"I can sort of see where Aang is coming from," Jet commented.

Zuko groaned. "Not you too."

"I'm not saying that your dad's not a total shithead and needs to die," Jet quickly replied before Zuko started yelling at him too, "but to go against everything you've ever been taught is a pretty tough thing to do. Aang's going to really have to work himself over before he can reach a decision on this."

"I just hope he can make the right decision," Zuko said. "Or my father's going to destroy this world completely." Jet nodded, and continued working on Zuko's back until the prince was lying against him in sleepy bliss, and he lowered them down to the bed, where Zuko wandered into a dream.

Lightning flashed, and Zuko found himself lying on his back in a pool of water, but he wasn't wet. Again, it was cloudy, and appeared to be raining, but that didn't get him wet either. Strange. Then again, pretty much anything could and did happen in Zuko's dreams.

He stood up, and saw Jet coming toward him. His lover was running, calling his name. Zuko ran to him, and they embraced.

Suddenly, a maniacal cackling could be heard in the distance. _Not again,_ Zuko thought. But it was indeed who he thought it was. Azula materialized before him and Jet, with her hair down and wearing her usual set of armor. She looked slightly unhinged, even for Azula, which was saying something.

"Want to play, big brother?" she asked. "I've thought of wonderful game. It's called LIGHTNING!" And she drew some from the clouds above into her body, and sent it flying towards them. Zuko redirected it back into the clouds, but that turned out to be a stupid move when Azula sucked it back into herself.

"Did I forget to mention that this is a game that only I can WIN?" Azula cackled. "So that means you lose everything, Zuzu!" And she drew more lightning into herself and fired it straight at Jet, who crumpled beside Zuko.

The prince knelt beside his lover, who whispered, "I love you," before he dematerialized.

Zuko screamed, and launched himself at Azula, who drew more lightning and blasted it at him…

Just as the physical Zuko woke up with a shout. He shot up in bed, and immediately looked over at Jet to make sure that he was still there and breathing. Luckily, he was, and Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. But his movement had caused Jet to stir and stare sleepily up at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up. "Did you have another bad dream?"

Zuko gulped, and nodded. "Really bad."

"Wanna tell me about it?" Jet inquired, wrapping his arms around Zuko loosely.

Zuko gulped. How could he tell Jet that he saw him die right before his eyes? He sighed, and said, "It was another one about Azula. Whenever she comes into my dreams, she always announces herself by laughing evilly, and then she lightning-bends at someone I care about. They always die after she does that."

"Who was it this time?" Jet asked.

Zuko gulped. "It was you. Actually, you've died in three out of the four dreams I've had that featured Azula."

"That doesn't sound good," Jet mused. He looked himself over. "But at least I'm not dead yet." He smirked, but Zuko did not reflect the expression.

"Please don't joke about this," Zuko pleaded. "Obviously you keep getting struck down in my dreams because I'm afraid to lose you. Azula's always been really good at picking up on my fears, apparently even in dreams."

"But why is it Azula? Why isn't it the Fire Lord?" Jet inquired.

"My father is for Aang to deal with," Zuko replied. "I guess that leaves Azula to me."

"Can you defeat her?" Jet asked.

"I'm not sure," Zuko said. "I can almost do it when she's at normal strength, but it's likely that she'll be stronger when I have to face her. I would imagine the comet will have come by that time, so we'll both have a ton more power available to us, but she'll have just a little more because she's just that much stronger than me." He sighed. He always hated how Azula was more powerful than him, how she had always been more powerful. But then, if he was at the same level as her, then this would not be such an important step in his journey, and he would not have grown as much as he had during the last three years.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Jet replied. "But let's go back to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a big day." He gently pulled Zuko back down to the mattress and folded him into his arms. Zuko listened to Jet's heartbeat until he was asleep once again.

When they awoke again, it was the appropriate time and they joined the rest of the group in packing up to leave the beach house. Of course, when everything was all packed up and ready to go, they realized that Aang wasn't with them. So that started a search of the entire house and the island - during which Toph decided that it was her turn to go on a field trip with Zuko, and it was not up to her expectations at all - to find the missing Airbender, and, unfortunately, the search turned up fruitless.

Then, they noticed that Momo was also missing. Sokka came up with the ridiculous assumption that Appa had eaten Momo, but Katara shot that down as soon as he said it.

After telling Sokka to get out of Appa's mouth, Zuko said, "Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away. This is a problem." They all looked up at him in something that resembled anticipation – except for Jet, who was standing beside him so he couldn't see what face he was making. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang," Katara replied. Toph nodded in agreement, as did Suki and Sokka.

Zuko gulped, and thought, _Guess I'm in charge for now. _He then got onto Appa's head and indicated for the rest of the group to get on the saddle behind him. He softly said, "Yip yip," and the bison took off into the sky.

The group seemed to have noticed where he was headed, and Sokka said, "Um, I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but why are we heading towards the Earth Kingdom? There's no way Aang's there."

Zuko looked back at Sokka and replied, "Just trust me." The Water Tribe boy shrugged, and retreated back into the saddle.

After flying for a few hours, Zuko found what he was looking for – or rather, whom. Zuko recalled that the bounty hunter Jun had a shirshu in her employ, a beast that could track a scent to anywhere in the world. He assumed that she would be able to help them find Aang, as she had done before.

When they got to the bar where Jun was, the group entered and found her fighting a man. She was completely nonchalant about the whole thing, sipping at a cup of tea while managing to avoid her opponent's every swing. Of course, when he almost hit her tea cup, Jun tossed him over her shoulder into the bar. She then returned to sipping at her tea, feet resting on the table she sat at.

Zuko approached Jun, and she said, "Oh great, it's Prince Pouty. Where's your creepy grandpa?"

"He's my Uncle, and he's not here," Zuko replied, adding _because I screwed up_ in his head.

Jun noticed Katara standing behind Zuko, and said, with a smirk, "I see you worked things out with your girlfriend."

The two teens spluttered, and Jet came forward. "I'm actually his boyfriend," he said.

"Oh, well good for you," Jun replied. "I always had a feeling pretty boy here swung the other way. At least he's not going out of his range this time." She sipped at her tea, and turned to Zuko again. "So what do you want?"

"I need your help finding the Avatar," Zuko said.

Jun sighed. "Doesn't sound too fun."

Zuko leaned forward and growled out, "Does the end of the world sound like more fun?"

Jun shrugged, and led the group outside. Appa and her shirshu were growling at each other, but then the bison licked the other beast's face and they quieted.

Jun tossed a large piece of meat to her shirshu, which was named Nyla. She petted the beast affectionately, then turned and asked, "Anybody got something with the Avatar's scent on it?"

Katara held out Aang's staff, and Jun took it and held it in front of Nyla. The shirshu sniffed at it, and then began sniffing around them in an attempt to find a similar scent. Unfortunately, her efforts proved in vain, and she lowered herself to the ground and rubbed her snout with her paws.

"What's that mean?" Zuko asked, gesturing to the shirshu.

"Your friend's gone," Jun replied.

Toph started, "We know he's gone, that's why –"

"No, I mean he's _gone_ gone," the bounty hunter interrupted. "He doesn't exist."

"That can't be," Katara said. "Are you sure he's not around? He's not…dead, is he?"

"No, we could find him if he were dead," Jun said as she mounted Nyla. "See ya." She took off, heading away from the bar.

"That's it, then," Katara said, looking as if she were about cry. "We're done for."

It really did seem that way at this point, and Zuko wasn't sure what else he could do. Everything seemed hopeless now: Aang was gone, the comet was coming in just over twenty-four hours, and Uncle Iroh was nowhere to be found…wait a minute, Uncle Iroh! That was it!

"Wait!" he yelled to Jun. "I have another person for you to find. I'll be right back with a smell sample."

He ran back to Appa's saddle and rummaged through his bag until he found the one thing he had kept of his Uncle's before they had been separated: his sandal, from the time Uncle had been captured by Earthbenders after Zuko ditched him at the hot springs. The others were disgusted that he had kept the shoe, although Toph thought it was kind of sweet.

Zuko held the shoe to Nyla's nose. Jun pulled on Nyla's reins once the shirshu had picked up the scent, and the rest of the group followed her while flying on Appa's back. They travelled through the night, across a good chunk of the Earth Kingdom, until they finally stopped just outside of Ba Sing Se.

Nyla scratched at the rubble of the outer wall. Jun explained that that meant Iroh was nearby, and wished them luck before she took off again. The group then settled around Appa – Suki, Sokka, Jet, Zuko, and Katara were using him as a pillow and bed all in one, while Toph built a small Earth tent for herself - went to sleep.

Some hours later, they awoke to find their campsite wreathed in flames. Appa tensed, and the teens looked for the source of the fire, which they discovered to be…

"Jeong Jeong?" Sokka asked perplexedly. The man, who had at one time been Aang's Firebending teacher, nodded, and a few other figures appeared beside him, who Sokka and Katara recognized as Piandao and King Bumi of Omashu. They were also joined by Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe, who informed Katara and Sokka that he was now their grandfather by marriage. These men, judging from their outfits, comprised the Order of the White Lotus, which Zuko assumed Iroh was a member of as well.

They followed the men into their encampment, which Bumi referred to as "old people camp." Upon entering the camp, Jet was immediately tackled and pulled aside by Smellerbee, Longshot, and several other similarly dressed teenagers that Zuko assumed were also Freedom Fighters who were allied with the Order as well.

Zuko turned to Piandao and tentatively asked, "Where is he?" He assumed that the man knew whom he was referring to.

"Your Uncle's in there, Prince Zuko," Piandao replied, pointing to the largest tent at the end of the camp.

Zuko walked towards the tent, but stopped just outside and knelt before it. What should he do? What should he say? Would Uncle Iroh listen to him at all?

Katara came to stand beside him. "You okay?" she asked.

Zuko shook his head. "My Uncle hates me, I know it. He loved me and supported me in every way, and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?"

Katara sighed. "You're sorry for what you did, right?"

How could she even ask that? Had she not just heard him and seen him tense when they got to the camp? "More sorry than I've ever been about anything in my entire life," he said, just to get the point across one more time.

She smiled softly. "Then he'll forgive you." She walked away and left him to do what they both knew he needed to do.

Zuko rose to his feet. Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside the curtains and stepped into the tent. A loud snore greeted him, and he smiled softly as he knelt before Uncle Iroh's sleeping mat.

When the sun rose, Uncle stopped snoring and woke up. He yawned and stretched, and then appeared to catch sight of Zuko. He looked away again, and Zuko began speaking.

"I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me But I want you to know, I'm so, _so _sorry, Uncle." He could feel the tears falling from his eyes, but he didn't stop to wipe them away. "I'm so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you, but I'll –"

His speech was cut off when Iroh pulled him into a tight hug and set one hand on his back. It was as if Iroh was speaking through that hug, saying _It's all right. I forgive you, nephew._

Zuko was surprised, to say the least. He hadn't expected this from Uncle, the hugging and – were those tears he felt dripping on his back? "How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me!" Zuko exclaimed.

"I was never angry with you," Uncle replied softly as he brought one hand up to the back of Zuko's head. "I was sad because I thought you lost your way." Zuko nodded sadly, knowing full well how much he had lost in his quest to get what he thought he wanted. Uncle continued, "But you found it again, and you did it by yourself." He smiled at Zuko, and pulled him into another hug. "And I'm so happy you found your way here."

"It wasn't that hard, Uncle," Zuko replied as he returned the hug. "You have a pretty strong scent." He felt the rumble of Iroh's chuckling go through him, and he smiled.

"Everything okay in here?" said a voice. Zuko turned, and found Jet outside the tent, holding one of the curtains open.

Zuko replied, "Everything's fine. It always was." He wiped the remaining tears from his eyes, and sat beside his uncle.

"Good to see you again, Jet," Iroh added. "I am very sorry about what happened at the prison in the Fire Nation, and for what happened to you after that."

"No need to apologize," Jet said. "If it hadn't been for those days in the prison with you, I wouldn't have been able to forgive Zuko myself when he came to rescue me from the Boiling Rock." He smiled at the prince, who smiled back.

After the sun rose, Jet, Zuko, and Iroh joined the rest of the group for a meal, during which it was decided that Zuko, Katara, and Jet would go and deal with Azula, although Zuko wanted Jet to stay with the Order for safety, while Sokka, Suki, and Toph would take out the fleet of airships that were headed for the Earth Kingdom. The Freedom Fighters were going to Ba Sing Se with the Order, and they could only hope that Aang was going to fight the Fire Lord.

As they flew to the Fire Nation royal palace, Zuko thought about what was supposed to happen today. The comet would arrive, Zuko, Jet, and Katara would take out Azula, Aang would destroy the Fire Lord, Sokka and his group would destroy the fleet of airships, and the Order of the White Lotus would reclaim Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth Kingdom. At least, that was what he hoped would happen.

Katara seemed to sense his mental turmoil, and said, "Zuko, don't worry. We can take Azula." Jet nodded in agreement.

"It's not her I'm worried about," Zuko said, although that was only a half-truth. He was still terrified about the dreams he had been having, and he wanted nothing more than to shove Jet off of the bison to keep him safe. He continued, "What about Aang? What if he can't take out my father? What if he loses?"

"Aang won't lose," Katara replied. "He'll come back. He has to."

They made a brief stop to stretch their legs and relieve themselves. Zuko took Jet aside and said, "I really don't want you to fight with us."

"I can handle myself, Zuko," Jet replied. "I'm just as good of a fighter as you or Katara."

"Yes, but you're not a bender," Zuko pointed out. "I am, Katara is, and Azula is. So that puts you at a disadvantage, especially when it comes to Azula."

"So, what, do you want me to just hang back and let you and Katara handle this all by yourselves, then?" Jet asked, arching one eyebrow.

Jet had read his mind perfectly, Zuko mused. He sighed, and took Jet into his arms, sniffing his hair and touching it, feeling the warmth of Jet's skin under his fingers.

"What are you doing?" Jet asked.

"If we die today, I want to remember this," Zuko replied. "I want to remember how you felt in my arms. I want to remember _you_, Jet."

"We're not going to die," Jet said. "We're going to fight, and win." He smiled, and broke away from Zuko. "And if you don't believe it, then I'm turning Appa around and dropping you into the ocean."

Zuko smiled back. "Just promise me one thing."

"Anything," Jet said.

"If we get through this, I want you to come live with me in the palace as my first consort," Zuko replied.

"Really? The future Fire Lord wants to show me off to the world as his consort?" Jet asked mockingly. "Oh, goodness gracious, whatever shall I do?" He laughed and then said, "Of course I will, you idiot! There's no way I'm going back to the Earth Kingdom now." He chuckled, and then abruptly stopped. "Wait, what do you mean by first?"

"Well, I'm going to have to carry on the line somehow," Zuko said. "And I already have someone picked out to carry my child. You know that girl, Mai? The one who was at the Boiling Rock?"

"The one with the knives?" Jet asked.

Zuko nodded. "We kind of had a thing, and I broke it off with her, but I think she still loves me a little. So I think I'm going to let her handle the child-bearing duties."

"Does that mean we can have threesomes?" Jet asked.

Zuko flushed. "If we live through this, yes, we will have many threesomes with Mai." There was a rustling in the bushes, and Katara came out of them, laughing her head off.

"I'm sorry," she said between laughs, "but I just can't picture Mai enjoying that very much."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Zuko replied. "Mai doesn't hate _everything_, you know."

Katara flushed. "You pervert!" She smacked Zuko playfully on the cheek.

"We should get moving," Jet said. Katara volunteered to take the reins for a while, so Zuko could rest and preserve his energy before the imminent battle at the capital. Zuko settled beside Jet, leaning against the other boy. Jet loosely wrapped his arms around Zuko, and idly began humming the same tune on that first night on the boat to Ba Sing Se. He often hummed it when they were close like this, and it became one of Zuko's favorites. The prince closed his eyes and dozed for a while.

When they were getting close to the capital, Jet woke Zuko. The prince stretched, raising his arms to the sky. His sleep had been peaceful, which was surprising considering the situation that was coming.

"You ready?" Jet asked. Zuko nodded.

"Let's do this," Katara said. The boys nodded, and they closed in on the palatial ceremonial plaza just as one of the Fire Sages was about to crown Azula as Fire Lord. Appa growled as he landed, and Jet and Zuko stood up on his back.

"You're not going to become Fire Lord today," Zuko said defiantly. "I am."

Azula chuckled darkly. "You're hilarious."

Katara moved to stand beside Zuko. "And you're going down."

The Fire Sage motioned to put the crown on Azula's head, but she raised her hand to stop it. "Wait," she said. "You want to be Fire Lord? Fine. Let's settle this. Just you and me, brother. Agni Kai!"

"You're on," Zuko replied.

Katara turned to Zuko. "What are you doing? She's playing you. She knows she can't take all of us, so she's trying to separate us."

"I know," Zuko said, "but I can take her this time."

"But you admitted to your uncle that you would need help facing Azula," Jet countered.

Zuko turned to look at Azula. "There's something off about her," he observed. "I can't explain it, but she's slipping somehow." He turned to face them both and motioned for them to move backwards. "And this way, no one else has to get hurt." He looked at Jet meaningfully. That last statement was meant for him; Zuko didn't want Jet getting anywhere near Azula, for fear that his nightmares would become reality.

The Fire Nation siblings took the traditional positions for Agni Kai, Azula near the palace, Zuko across from her. They both rose and turned to face each other.

Azula discarded her Fire Lord robes disdainfully. "I'm sorry it has to end this way, _brother_."

Zuko took a stance and murmured, "No, you're not."

Azula moved into a stance that looked somewhat awkward and frightening. She spun and sent a blast of blue flame flying at Zuko. He put his hands up, jumped forward, and blasted her as well. The flames collided and dissipated, but Azula wasn't wasting time. She leapt forward and kicked out another blast, followed by three spinning, flaming kicks. Again, Zuko eliminated the flames with his own fire.

The fight continued in this pattern. As it progressed, the flames increased in size and intensity, probably due to the comet's influence on their bending. Zuko's orange flames were roughly the same size as Azula's blue ones, if not bigger.

At one point, Zuko sent a stream of flames directly at the palace. Seeing what he had done, Azula charged and leapt upward on a blast of fire, which she then directed to Zuko. Fortunately, the prince twisted his body at just the right moment and, using both hands, made a wall of fire that split the blue flames.

Azula was obviously overdoing it, and she wasn't doing well. Her blasts were too big, too emotional. She relied too much on her hatred and anger, and those emotions were draining her physically and mentally. She barely dodged a pair of blasts from Zuko, again using her firepower to propel herself across the plaza. She tried to return the attack with her own fire, but Zuko stopped it again with his orange flames. She then rocketed around him, leaving a trail of flames behind her. Zuko, in retaliation, created his own fire. He tried to blast her while she circled him, but she was too fast for him to aim properly. He then crouched and did a few sweeping kicks, each with an expanding ring of fire. Azula tried to block the rings, but it was too late. The last flaming ring connected, and the deranged princess went flying.

Then, Azula fell. She hadn't actually fallen since she was a small child, and this was a big one. Her hair had come out of its topknot, and she was gasping for air. She stood up, hunched over, and bared her teeth at Zuko. Oh, she was angry.

"No lightning today?" Zuko goaded. "What's the matter – afraid I'll redirect it?" He thrust one hand forward for emphasis, taking the stance that he had learned from Iroh.

Azula screamed back, "Oh, I'll show you LIGHTNING!" And she began to wave her fingertips in the familiar pattern of Lightning-bending, although they were much bigger movements than usual. Zuko calmly took his stance, palms out and legs spread wide. Azula finished her movements and held her fingertips to her chest. Her eyes flicked to the side, and she smirked as she extended her arm to aim the lightning at…

Jet.

As Zuko realized what was happening, he ran to try and block the lightning from reaching its target. But alas, the power of Sozin's Comet even reached power over lightning, giving it increased speed. It connected, just as Zuko was about to block it.

Jet crumpled, falling down the stairs and twitching madly, all the while screaming bloody murder. Once his twitching became less violent and his screams died, his hands went slack and released his swords. Zuko knelt beside him, pleading with him to stay awake, not to give in, to wake up. But Jet's eyes slowly closed, and he stopped moving altogether.

No no no no no no NO NO NO! Agni be damned, this was not supposed to happen! His dreams weren't supposed to come true! NO! He screamed, and held Jet to him, begging him to open his eyes. When he didn't, he screamed again, and launched himself at Azula, who was laughing maniacally.

"Seems I've struck a nerve, Zuzu," she said as he approached. "Did you love him? Oh, how pathetic. A traitor and a sexual deviant. How perfect for you, the failure prince." She cackled again.

"You have messed with me for the last time, Azula!" Zuko yelled as he propelled himself forward. "It ends now!"

"Oh, does it?" she asked with a smirk. As he finally came up to her, she blasted him with a giant ball of fire straight to the chest, sending him flying across the plaza.

Katara shrieked and started to run to help him, but he yelled for her to get back. "This is my fight. Jet already got hurt because of me, and I won't lose you too!"

"What was that, Zuzu?" Azula asked mockingly as she started to move her arms again to create lightning. "You don't want the little peasant girl to get hurt?" She drew her fingers into her chest. "Well, she shouldn't have come here, then!" Azula cackled and released the lightning towards Katara, but Zuko intercepted it and took the brunt of it, only redirecting about half of the load.

Katara screamed his name, and he was vaguely aware of Azula laughing hysterically. He tried to get up, but his arms gave out on him. The Water Tribe girl formed a liquid glove and was about to put it on Zuko's chest when suddenly Azula sent a flurry of attacks headed their way. Katara shielded herself and moved away from Zuko. The last thing he heard before he passed out was Azula saying, "Zuzu, you don't look so good!" followed by her insane laughter. He then lost all sense of the world.

When next he awoke, it was to the feeling of Katara healing his chest. He groaned as most of the pain left him, and then relaxed when it was over.

"Thank you, Katara," he whispered with an attempt at a smile.

"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you," she replied. She helped him sit up, and then guided him to a standing position with one arm draped across her shoulders.

The first thing Zuko saw was Azula, but it was a completely different princess than he had ever seen in all his years. She was chained to a drain covering, and her Firebending was totally out of control. Her hands, feet and mouth were all going nuts with her trademark blue fire, and her eyes leaked big gloppy tears as she screamed. As much as he wanted to feel sorry for her, though, all Zuko could think was that she deserved it.

Katara and Zuko then went over to Jet, who lay in a heap by the stairs. He had taken much more lightning than Zuko had, and Katara told him that it might be harder to heal him because of that fact.

"Please," Zuko pleaded, "just do it. Bring him back."

"I'll try," Katara replied. She coated her hands in water and placed them on Jet's torso. She held them there for a good five minutes, but there was no movement from the injured teen. Katara gasped, and tried again, only to get the same result. "I'm so sorry." She held her hands to her face, and blinked rapidly in an effort to stop the tears from falling, which turned out to be in vain.

Zuko cradled Jet to his chest. At first he just held him silently. Then, the dam burst, and Zuko gave way to wailing and crying. "You said this wouldn't happen!" he screamed. "You said you could take care of yourself! You said you'd live with me in the palace! You promised me, Jet!" His words ceased and he sobbed brokenly at the loss of his lover.

Zuko and Katara carried Jet into the palace, and laid him on his back in there. Zuko sat beside him and put Jet's head in his lap, stroking his hair solemnly.

As he sat there, Zuko started humming that tune that Jet had hummed for him earlier. He put all of the love he felt for Jet into that tune, hoping it would stir something in the body of his lover, but when nothing happened, he broke off the tune and cried fresh tears.

"I'm so sorry, Jet," he said. "I'm sorry for everything – all the lies, the coldness, that I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation. I'm so sorry. And if I can't have you around to share this life with, then there's no point in living anymore." He raised one of Jet's swords, and prepared to stab it through his chest and take his own life, but something happened to prevent that action from being completed.

Jet's hand reached up and pulled his hand away. Zuko gasped, and looked down at Jet, who was barely alive, but still had that familiar glint in his eyes. "Don't do that," he whispered. "Because then I'll have to kill myself too." He smirked gently.

Zuko cradled Jet to his chest, crying again, all the while running his fingers down Jet's body as if to remind himself that Jet was alive and well and DAMMIT HE SHOULDN'T SCARE HIM LIKE THAT AGAIN. He slapped Jet across the face and expressed his displeasure at Jet's making him wait and scaring the hell out of him.

Jet replied, "I almost didn't wake up. I wanted to just sleep, lie there and die. But then I heard that music again, the one I used to hum for you, and it brought me back." He raised his face to kiss Zuko's lips passionately. "You brought me back. Thank you, Zuko."

"Well, you said you would live with me if we beat Azula," Zuko said. "You promised."

"And a promise is a promise," Jet replied. He kissed Zuko again, and again, until they both passed out from exhaustion and pleasure.

They finally had each other completely.


	18. Epilogue

**Title:** Little Red String

**Rating: **R

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure

**Warnings:** Psychological abuse, almost-rape, physical abuse, Azula (she's scary enough that she needs a warning), sexual situations and activities (homo- and heterosexual), almost-rape, explicit language (mostly from Jet and Zuko), POV switches (when in Jet's POV, Iroh and Zuko will be Lee and Mushi during the bits leading up to what would canonically be season 3, then Iroh and Zuko from then on; when in Zuko's POV, Iroh and Zuko's will be Iroh/Uncle and Zuko)

**Pairing(s): **JetZuko, implied ZukoMai, hints of Kataang

**Summary:** When you meet someone, an invisible red string is tied around your pinky fingers that links you together. The thicker the string is between people, the stronger their bond is.

Sometimes, you find allies in the strangest of places. Like Zuko - he found Jet and the Freedom Fighters on a boat to Ba Sing Se. But Zuko didn't expect Jet to be as charismatic as he was. So he left behind everything to start over with Jet and begin anew in Ba Sing Se. But some parts of his past are harder to let go of, or won't let go. Like his crazy sister. And the fact that he's Fire Nation, which Jet doesn't actually know. Will Zuko's life catch up with him? Can Jet and Zuko stand against the evils of the Fire Nation and still be together?

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim to own any part of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

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**Epilogue**

After the events of the day of Sozin's Comet, the world began to return to a peaceful setting. Granted there were still a few rebel Fire Nation battalions who tried to destroy the Earth Kingdom, but that was to be expected when a new Fire Lord comes into power so quickly. Eventually, they were dealt with accordingly and accepted that the Earth Kingdom was not theirs to take.

Zuko was crowned Fire Lord a week after the battle, once he was able to move around on his own. The week before his coronation was spent in bed with Jet while Katara attempted to shoo them away from each other and rewrapped their chest wounds every hour and made sure they got well. Jet was named Royal First Consort to the Fire Lord, with Mai as the Second Consort. Mai decided that she was okay with the idea of Jet being one of Zuko's consorts as well as herself; it gave her multiple opportunities to get back at Jet for stealing Zuko from her, as well as a new non-bending partner to spar with. And, as Zuko promised, they had many threesomes, which resulted in the birth of their first child, a boy named Kazuya, a year after the war ended, and another child on the way.

Azula was sent to a mental ward in the finest hospital in the world, located in Ba Sing Se. Reports suggested that she was still an emotional wreck, but would respond to treatment over time. Zuko and Jet visited her once a year, but they usually found her in a state of distress which increased when they came to see her. Iroh sent many kinds of tea to sedate her, which, according to the doctors' reports, seem to have a positive effect on her recovery.

Aang and Katara finally figured out that they were perfect for each other and officially started dating. They set about rebuilding the Air Temples and removing them of all traces of the Fire Nation's desecration under Sozin's rule, and also helping Sokka to rebuild the Southern Water Tribe into the glorious city it had been in days past. Sokka became the foreign diplomat for both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes with the blessings of Chief Arnook and his father.

Iroh went back to work at The Jasmine Dragon, along with Smellerbee and Longshot, and welcomed customers of all nationalities. He started a Pai Sho league for the youth of Ba Sing Se, although he managed to defeat the children even when he wasn't trying. He also auditioned for and joined the Ba Sing Se Symphony Orchestra, which happened to need a new Tsungi Hornist.

Suki and Toph set about trying to rebuild Ba Sing Se and became the new advisors to the Earth King, who was reinstated as ruler of the Earth Kingdom once he was found. It turned out that during the last few months of the war, he had joined up with the same circus that Ty Lee had been affiliated with. Suki commuted between Ba Sing Se and Kyoshi Island, and served as the general foreign diplomat for the Earth Kingdom.

Suki proposed to Sokka, much to his surprise and Hakoda's amusement, and he made her an engagement necklace of her own. They struggled to find time to actually get married because of their diplomaic duties, but they did it shortly before the Winter Solstice a year after the war ended. Suki is currently expecting her first child with Sokka, which will be born in the Southern Water Tribe.

Ty Lee joined the Kyoshi Warriors, who readily accepted her after she gave them a few chi-blocking lessons. She served as Suki's second-in-command when the Kyoshi leader was on the island, and was responsible for training the younger girls to be warriors as well as ladies.

All people are tied together by little red strings wrapped around their pinky fingers. They may not realize it, but these strings represent the relationships they build with each other. The thicker the string, the stronger the bond. Love, of course, is the strongest bond of all. And once you realize that you are bound to a person by love, you can never break free of that bond.

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**Author's Note: **I would just like to thank all of the lovely reviewers for this story. You inspired me to finish getting it edited and ready to be posted and all that jazz. I really appreciate all of your positive comments and catching mistakes that I might have missed. Thank you all, and happy holidays!


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